Evolving trend and self-similarity of ozone pollution in central Hong Kong ambient during 1984–2002

The evolving pattern of ozone level in Hong Kong urban air has undergone various changes and corresponds to the regional urban and economic development. We assess such changes by reviewing and analyzing the original ozone pollutant database monitored in central Hong Kong downtown area during the period of 1984–2002. Both fractal analysis and traditional statistical methods are adopted to estimate the ozone evolving characteristics during the studied period. It is found that the ozone evolving pattern has strong self-similarity and the ozone pollution presents increasing trend in Hong Kong region in recent years based on the analysis. The typical fractal dimensions for total time series are D = 0.894 for available data set (N = 5760) and D = 0.859 for complete data set with interpolation (N = 6935), respectively. The fractal analysis can be used to assess the pollution trend in urban environment and may provide an alternative method for environmental study.