The TROPOMI Formaldehyde (HCHO) product is a vital component of the Level-2 processing suite for S5P/TROPOMI data. Formaldehyde serves as an intermediate gas in almost all oxidation chains of Non-Methane Volatile Organic Compounds (NMVOC), which eventually lead to the production of CO2. Because HCHO is a precursor to tropospheric ozone, alongside NOx, CO, and CH4, long-term satellite observations are essential for supporting air quality and chemistry-climate research from regional to global scales.
Key Features and Applications
The source of HCHO in the remote atmosphere is primarily CH4 oxidation. Conversely, over continental regions, the oxidation of higher NMVOCs emitted from vegetation, fires, traffic, and industrial sources results in localized enhancements of HCHO levels. Because the lifetime of formaldehyde is only a few hours, concentrations in the boundary layer can be directly related to the release of short-lived hydrocarbons that are often otherwise invisible from space. Seasonal and inter-annual variations in HCHO distribution are driven by temperature changes, fire events, and fluctuations in anthropogenic activities.
Dataset Specifications
Examples of filenames (a.k.a. granules):
S5P_OFFL_L2__HCHO___20260201T231910_20260202T010040_43039_03_020800_20260203T215212.nc S5P_NRTI_L2__HCHO___20260201T234313_20260201T234813_43039_03_020800_20260202T005323.nc S5P_RPRO_L2__HCHO___20220701T230527_20220702T004657_24439_03_020401_20230315T002352.nc |
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Elements in the filename separated by underscores after the initial "S5P": |
Dataset Specifications V2 | |
| Temporal Coverage |
Since 12-Jul-2020 Reprocessed (RPRO) dataset: from 30-Apr-2018 to 03-Aug-2022 |
| Spatial Coverage |
~2600 km swath Full daily surface coverage of radiance and reflectance measurements for latitudes > 7° and < -7°, and better than 95 % coverage for latitudes in the interval [-7°, 7°] |
| Spatial Resolution at Nadir |
3.5 x 7.0 km (across x along track), at beginning of mission 3.5 x 5.5 km (across x along track), since 6 August 2019 |
| Processor Version | 02.xx.xx, with x=any digit between 0 and 9 |
Dataset Specifications V1 | |
| Temporal Coverage |
From 30-Apr-2018 to 12-Jul-2020 |
| Spatial Coverage |
~2600 km swath Full daily surface coverage of radiance and reflectance measurements for latitudes > 7° and < -7°, and better than 95 % coverage for latitudes in the interval [-7°, 7°] |
| Spatial Resolution at Nadir |
3.5 x 7.0 km (across x along track), at beginning of mission 3.5 x 5.5 km (across x along track), since 6 August 2019 |
| Processor Version | 01.xx.xx, with x=any digit between 0 and 9 |
How to Access the Data
The data related to this product and to the other S5P/TROPOMI products are accessible via the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem (CDSE).
Documentation and Related Datasets
Technical documentation on the S5P/TROPOMI Level-1B and Level-2 products can be found on the the SentiWiki S5P Products page.
Dataset Citation Guidelines
Users, who, in their research, use ESA Earth Observation data that have been assigned a DOI, are asked to use it when citing the data source in their publications:
Dataset Citation Guidelines V2 |
| Copernicus Sentinel-5P (processed by ESA), 2020, TROPOMI Level 2 Formaldehyde Total Column products. Version 02. European Space Agency. https://doi.org/10.5270/S5P-vg1i7t0 |
Dataset Citation Guidelines V1 |
| Copernicus Sentinel-5P (processed by ESA), 2018, TROPOMI Level 2 Formaldehyde Total Column products. Version 01. European Space Agency. https://doi.org/10.5270/S5P-tjlxfd2 |