Ozone in the tropical troposphere is vital to atmospheric chemistry. Intense ultraviolet radiation and high humidity in the tropics stimulate the formation of the hydroxyl radical (OH) through the photolysis of ozone. As the primary atmospheric oxidant, OH reacts with essential trace gases, including CO, CH4, and various hydrocarbons. Furthermore, the tropics are characterized by significant emissions of ozone precursors, such as NOx, CO, and hydrocarbons, from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Ozone formed in these regions can be transported over vast distances, impacting air quality far from original emission sources.

Key Features and Applications

The TROPOMI tropospheric ozone product (O3_TCL) is a specialized Level-2C dataset that provides the tropical tropospheric ozone column between the surface and a fixed pressure level of 270 hPa. This product is designed to support studies on long-range transport and tropical atmospheric chemistry. The data is represented as three-day averaged tropospheric ozone columns on a 0.5° by 1.0° latitude-longitude grid, specifically covering the tropical region between 20°N and 20°S.

Validation Summary

Dataset Specifications

Examples of filenames (a.k.a. granules):

S5P_OFFL_L2__O3_TCL_20260115T114614_20260121T131531_42833_03_020800_20260130T000000.nc S5P_NRTI_L2__O3_TCL_20260115T235813_20260119T224813_42826_03_020800_20260120T000001.nc S5P_RPRO_L2__O3_TCL_20220701T113633_20220707T122208_24475_03_020401_20230329T142115.nc

Elements in the filename separated by underscores after the initial "S5P":
* processing type: near-real time (NRTI), off-line (OFFL), reprocessing of off-line (RPRO)
* product identifier [10 char.]
* start date and time of granule
* end date and time of granule
* orbit number [5 char.] somewhere in the middle of the period covered
* collection number [2 char.]
* version number [6 char.]
* production date and time
In case of OFFL and RPRO granules are 6 days, for NRTI granules are 3-4 days.

Dataset Specifications V2

Temporal Coverage

Since 12-Jul-2020

Reprocessed (RPRO) dataset: from 30-04-2018 to 03-08-2022

Spatial CoverageThree day averaged tropospheric ozone columns, 0.5° x 1.0° latitude-longitude grid for latitude band 20°N and 20°S
Processor Version02.xx.xx, with x=any digit between 0 and 9

Dataset Specifications V1

Temporal Coverage

From 30-Apr-2018 to 12-Jul-2020

Spatial CoverageThree day averaged tropospheric ozone columns, 0.5° x 1.0° latitude-longitude grid for latitude band 20°N and 20°S
Processor Version01.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 & 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 Tropospheric Ozone products. Version 02. European Space Agency. https://doi.org/10.5270/S5P-hcp1l2m

Dataset Citation Guidelines V1

Copernicus Sentinel-5P (processed by ESA), 2018, TROPOMI Level 2 Tropospheric Ozone products. Version 01. European Space Agency. https://doi.org/10.5270/S5P-8aqg6um