Advances in aerosol products from Sentinel-5P TROPOMI

Abstract:

The Sentinel-5P TROPOMI instrument is a polar orbiting UV-VIS spectrometer, launched in 2017, providing new and unprecedented high resolution imagery of global trace gas chemistry and emissions. Additionally, TROPOMI provides cloud and aerosol products to assist the trace gas retrievals, and provide global distribution data of clouds and aerosols themselves, which is relevant for climate studies. On the new high spatial resolution of TROPOMI of 3.5 by 7 km², the aerosol information becomes relevant if cloud-free areas can be successfully identified. In this presentation, new developments of the aerosol products from TROPOMI, Aerosol Layer Height (ALH), Aerosol Absorbing Index (AAI), and the newly developed Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT) will be presented. All of these products will be updated in the near future, mainly to remove or correct for cloud features in the aerosol products. The ALH is a new and successful product that is fast, global, and, according to first verifications, accurate to within the requirements. New cloud screening will be introduced soon, based on VIIRS cloud masking. The AAI is a long-standing product from UV-VIS spectrometers. The AAI from TROPOMI suffers from cloud features due to the high spatial resolution, which may be corrected for using a cloud model in the AAI retrieval. The new TROPOMI AOT is a product based on the two different AOT products of its predecessor OMI, combining the strong points of both retrievals. It is a science product that is developed in parallel with an AOT product from TROPOMI based on the GRASP algorithm.