The Operational Sentinel-5 Precursor Geophysical Products and Perspectives for Sentinel-4

The Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) mission, launched in October 2017, started the operational atmospheric composition measurements from space as part of the European Copernicus programme. The payload of the S5P mission is the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) that provides key information on air quality, climate and the ozone layer with high spatial resolution and daily global coverage. In this presentation we provide an overview of the operational TROPOMI geophysical products including O3, NO2, SO2, HCHO, CO, CH4, as well as UV, cloud and aerosol properties. The European teams responsible for the operational products are organized in three groups covering: (i) retrieval algorithms, (ii) data processors being used in the S5P ground-segment for the generation of the operational TROPOMI products, and (iii) routine validation of S5P products using fiducial reference measurements. It is planned to maintain this project organization during the complete mission in order to ensure the timely provision of state-of-science data products that are continuously improved and validated. Initial versions of the TROPOMI products were already available a few weeks after launch and were presented at the first light event that took place in December 2017. The retrieval algorithms and data processors were optimized during the commissioning phase that lasted until April 2018 and the results of the preliminary validation were presented in June 2018. Finally the first set of operational S5P products was released to the public in July 2018. The release of the remaining S5P products is organized in a staggered approach and will take place during the second part of 2018 and early 2019. The work on TROPOMI/S5P geophysical products is funded by EU Copernicus, ESA and national contributions from The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and Finland.