The many instruments aboard Copernicus atmospheric Sentinel missions (S-5P, S-4 and S-5) can be exploited to monitor the profile of ozone concentration in the Earth’s atmosphere with unprecedented accuracy and timeliness.
As the most important radiatively active gas in the stratosphere and short-lived climate forcer, oxidizing agent and pollutant in the troposphere, ozone shall be measured from the surface to the mesosphere. This cannot be done by a single instrument, due to limited capability of remote sounding in an assigned spectral region and observation geometry. It could be achieved by merging information of multiple measurements of the same target.
AURORA project demonstrates that the synergistic use of geostationary (GEO) and low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite sensors data in different frequency ranges is a viable strategy for full, vertical ozone profiling.
A novel approach, based on assimilation of GEO and LEO fused products with the application of an innovative algorithm to S-4 and S-5 synthetic data, is adopted to assess quality of the unique ozone vertical profile obtained in a context simulating the operational environment. The vertical distribution is used to calculate tropospheric ozone column and UV surface radiation, thus focusing on lower atmosphere layers.
A technological infrastructure, exploiting virtual machines and cloud data sharing, is created to implement the data processing chain with a geo-database and web-services for data access. The infrastructure represents a best practice that plays a key role in ensuring wider use of Copernicus Sentinel data for academia and industry. It is the basis for a market analysis for pre-market applications and uptake in commercial communities. Strategic dissemination and exploitation is targeted to European level (academia, CAMS, GEOSS, thanks to existing, strategic contacts) and international level (TEMPO and GEMS, in USA and ASIA, who investigate synergy and data exchange).
It is crucial to highlight the fact that the project addressed at the same time:
- the long-term objectve of exploring new research paths to upgrade their products to the operational level of Copernicus services like CAMS and C3S;
. the shorter term goal of making available a novel approach and the necessary technological infrastructure toaplly that to the first real data from the atmospheric Sentinels.
Importance of the project content to our daily lives: project outcomes are relevant to citizens’ everyday lives, to competitiveness and to solving societal challenges. AURORA exploited the positive impact of satellite data in improving quality of life, especially though sectors such as the chemical, pharmaceutical and the public health sector (application) and the importance of satellite data themselves (research).
Looking at the general impact, the atmospheric Sentinels are expected to deliver a large amount of data with unprecedented temporal and spatial resolution and data continuity.
This allows for better assessment of air quality, which helps to make more effective policies and evaluate implemented policies with improved measurement methods, thus having direct positive effects on the living environment and the health of millions of people.
The availability of this large quantity of data will represent an important opportunity for societal relevant commercial services and scientific studies and for increase of knowledge on the atmosphere. Moreover the large improvement in the quality of the data provides a unique opportunity for the development of new products addressed to market.
