Ozone Tropospheric Column (L2__O3_TCL)

Ozone in the tropical troposphere plays various important roles. The intense UV radiation and high humidity in the tropics stimulate the formation of the hydroxyl radical (OH) by the photolysis of ozone. OH is the most important oxidant in the troposphere because it reacts with virtually all trace gases, such as CO, CH₄ and other hydrocarbons. The tropics are also characterized by large emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x), carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons, both from natural and anthropogenic sources. Ozone that is formed over regions where large amounts of these ozone precursors are emitted, can be transported over great distances, and affects areas far from the source.

The TROPOMI tropospheric ozone product is a Level-2C product that represents three day averaged tropospheric ozone columns on a 0.5° by 1.0° latitude-longitude grid for the tropical region between 20°N and 20°S. The TROPOMI tropospheric ozone column product uses the TROPOMI Level-2 Total Ozone and Cloud products as input.