The Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR) is an activity of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry Project. This paper is a component of the report, focusing on the present-day distribution and trends of tropospheric ozone relevant to climate and global atmospheric chemistry model evaluation. Utilizing the TOAR surface ozone database, several figures present the global distribution and trends of daytime average ozone at 2702 non-urban monitoring sites, highlighting the regions and seasons of the world with the greatest ozone levels. Similarly, ozonesonde and commercial aircraft observations reveal ozone’s distribution throughout the depth of the free troposphere. Long-term surface observations are limited in their global spatial coverage, but data from remote locations indicate that ozone in the 21st century is greater than during the 1970s and 1980s. While some remote sites and many sites in the heavily polluted regions of East Asia show ozone increases since 2000, many others show decreases and there is no clear global pattern for surface ozone changes since 2000. Two new satellite products provide detailed views of ozone in the lower troposphere across East Asia and Europe, revealing the full spatial extent of the spring and summer ozone enhancements across eastern China that cannot be assessed from limited surface observations. Sufficient data are now available (ozonesondes, satellite, aircraft) across the tropics from South America eastwards to the western Pacific Ocean, to indicate a likely tropospheric column ozone increase since the 1990s. The 2014–2016 mean tropospheric ozone burden (TOB) between 60°N–60°S from five satellite products is 300 Tg ± 4%. While this agreement is excellent, the products differ in their quantification of TOB trends and further work is required to reconcile the differences. Satellites can now estimate ozone’s global long-wave radiative effect, but evaluation is difficult due to limited in situ observations where the radiative effect is greatest.

In this paper, we present measurements of total and tropospheric ozone, retrieved from infrared radiance spectra recorded by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI), which was launched on board the MetOp-A European satellite in October 2006. We compare IASI total ozone columns to Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) observations and ground-based measurements from the Dobson and Brewer network for one full year of observations (2008). The IASI total ozone columns are shown to be in good agreement with both GOME-2 and ground-based data, with correlation coefficients of about 0.9 and 0.85, respectively. On average, IASI ozone retrievals exhibit a positive bias of about 9 DU (3.3%) compared to both GOME-2 and ground-based measurements. In addition to total ozone columns, the good spectral resolution of IASI enables the retrieval of tropospheric ozone concentrations. Comparisons of IASI tropospheric columns to 490 collocated ozone soundings available from several stations around the globe have been performed for the period of June 2007–August 2008. IASI tropospheric ozone columns compare well with sonde observations, with correlation coefficients of 0.95 and 0.77 for the [surface–6 km] and [surface–12 km] partial columns, respectively. IASI retrievals tend to overestimate the tropospheric ozone columns in comparison with ozonesonde measurements. Positive average biases of 0.15 DU (1.2%) and 3 DU (11%) are found for the [surface–6 km] and for the [surface–12 km] partial columns respectively.

This paper assesses the quality of IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer)/Metop-A (IASI-A) and IASI/Metop-B (IASI-B) ozone (O₃) products (total and partial O₃ columns) retrieved with the Fast Optimal Retrievals on Layers for IASI Ozone (FORLI-O₃; v20151001) software for 9 years (2008–July 2017) through an extensive intercomparison and validation exercise using independent observations (satellite, ground-based and ozonesonde). Compared with the previous version of FORLI-O3 (v20140922), several improvements have been introduced in FORLI-O₃ v20151001, including absorbance look-up tables recalculated to cover a larger spectral range, with additional numerical corrections. This leads to a change of ∼ 4 % in the total ozone column (TOC) product, which is mainly associated with a decrease in the retrieved O₃ concentration in the middle stratosphere (above 30 hPa/25 km). IASI-A and IASI-B TOCs are consistent, with a global mean difference of less than 0.3 % for both daytime and nighttime measurements; IASI-A is slightly higher than IASI-B. A global difference of less than 2.4 % is found for the tropospheric (TROPO) O₃ column product (IASI-A is lower than IASI-B), which is partly due to a temporary issue related to the IASI-A viewing angle in 2015. Our validation shows that IASI-A and IASI-B TOCs are consistent with GOME-2 (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2), Dobson, Brewer, SAOZ (Système d'Analyse par Observation Zénithale) and FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) TOCs, with global mean differences in the range of 0.1 %–2 % depending on the instruments compared. The worst agreement with UV–vis retrieved TOC (satellite and ground) is found at the southern high latitudes. The IASI-A and ground-based TOC comparison for the period from 2008 to July 2017 shows the long-term stability of IASI-A, with insignificant or small negative drifts of 1 %–3 % decade⁻¹. The comparison results of IASI-A and IASI-B against smoothed FTIR and ozonesonde partial O₃ columns vary with altitude and latitude, with the maximum standard deviation being seen for the 300–150 hPa column (20 %–40 %) due to strong ozone variability and large total retrievals errors. Compared with ozonesonde data, the IASI-A and IASI-B O₃ TROPO column (defined as the column between the surface and 300 hPa) is positively biased in the high latitudes (4 %–5 %) and negatively biased in the midlatitudes and tropics (11 %–13 % and 16 %–19 %, respectively). The IASI-A-to-ozonesonde TROPO comparison for the period from 2008 to 2016 shows a significant negative drift in the Northern Hemisphere of −8.6±3.4 % decade⁻¹, which is also found in the IASI-A-to-FTIR TROPO comparison. When considering the period from 2011 to 2016, the drift value for the TROPO column decreases and becomes statistically insignificant. The observed negative drifts of the IASI-A TROPO O₃ product (8 %–16 % decade⁻¹) over the 2008–2017 period might be taken into consideration when deriving trends from this product and this time period.

This paper presents an extensive intercomparison and validation for the ozone (O₃) product measured by the two Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometers (IASIs) launched on board the MetOp-A and MetOp-B satellites in 2006 and in 2012 respectively. IASI O₃ total columns and vertical profiles obtained from Fast Optimal Retrievals on Layers for IASI (FORLI) v20140922 software (running up until recently) are validated against independent observations during the period 2008–2014 on a global scale. On average for the period 2013–2014, IASI-A and IASI-B total ozone columns (TOCs) retrieved using FORLI are consistent, with IASI-B providing slightly lower values with a global difference of only 0.2 ± 0.8 %. The comparison between IASI-A and IASI-B O₃ vertical profiles shows differences within ± 2 % over the entire altitude range. Global validation results for 7 years of IASI TOCs from FORLI against the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2) launched on board MetOp-A and Brewer–Dobson data show that, on average, IASI overestimates the ultraviolet (UV) data by 5–6 % with the largest differences found in the southern high latitudes. The comparison with UV–visible SAOZ (Système d'Analyse par Observation Zénithale) measurements shows a mean bias between IASI and SAOZ TOCs of 2–4 % in the midlatitudes and tropics and 7 % at the polar circle. Part of the discrepancies found at high latitudes can be attributed to the limited information content in the observations due to low brightness temperatures. The comparison with ozonesonde vertical profiles (limited to 30 km) shows that on average IASI with FORLI processing underestimates O₃ by ∼ 5–15 % in the troposphere while it overestimates O₃ by ∼ 10–40 % in the stratosphere, depending on the latitude. The largest relative differences are found in the tropical tropopause region; this can be explained by the low O₃ amounts leading to large relative errors. In this study, we also evaluate an updated version of FORLI-O3 retrieval software (v20151001), using look-up tables recalculated to cover a larger spectral range using the latest HITRAN spectroscopic database (HITRAN 2012) and implementing numerical corrections. The assessment of the new O₃ product with the same set of observations as that used for the validation exercise shows a correction of ∼ 4 % for the TOC positive bias when compared to the UV ground-based and satellite observations, bringing the overall global comparison to ∼ 1–2 % on average. This improvement is mainly associated with a decrease in the retrieved O₃ concentration in the middle stratosphere (above 30 hPa/25 km) as shown by the comparison with ozonesonde data.

In this paper we investigate a severe pollution episode that occurred in Beijing, Tianjin, and the Hebei province in January 2013. The episode was caused by the combination of anthropogenic emissions and a high‐pressure system that trapped pollutants in the boundary layer. Using IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) satellite measurements, high concentrations of key trace gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and ammonia (NH₃) along with ammonium sulfate aerosol ((NH₄)₂SO₄) are found. We show that IASI is able to detect boundary layer pollution in case of large negative thermal contrast combined with high levels of pollution. Our findings demonstrate that anthropogenic key pollutants, such as CO and SO₂, can be monitored by IASI in the North China Plain during wintertime in support of air quality evaluation and management.

The three Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) instruments on board the Metop family of satellites have been sounding the atmospheric composition since 2006. More than 30 atmospheric gases can be measured from the IASI radiance spectra, allowing the improvement of weather forecasting and the monitoring of atmospheric chemistry and climate variables. The early detection of extreme events such as fires, pollution episodes, volcanic eruptions, or industrial releases is key to take safety measures to protect the inhabitants and the environment in the impacted areas. With its near-real-time observations and good horizontal coverage, IASI can contribute to the series of monitoring systems for the systematic and continuous detection of exceptional atmospheric events in order to support operational decisions. In this paper, we describe a new approach to the near-real-time detection and characterization of unexpected events, which relies on the principal component analysis (PCA) of IASI radiance spectra. By analyzing both the IASI raw and compressed spectra, we applied a PCA-granule-based method on various past, well-documented extreme events such as volcanic eruptions, fires, anthropogenic pollution, and industrial accidents. We demonstrate that the method is well suited to the detection of spectral signatures for reactive and weakly absorbing gases, even for sporadic events. Consistent long-term records are also generated for fire and volcanic events from the available IASI/Metop-B data record. The method is running continuously, delivering email alerts on a routine basis, using the near-real-time IASI L1C radiance data. It is planned to be used as an online tool for the early and automatic detection of extreme events, which was not done before.