Ozone, a powerful oxidizing agent that quickly reacts with organic compounds to produce toxic species, also is harmful to respiratory and cardiovascular systems. Measurements of ozone are therefore essential for air quality. Noting that satellite observations cover wide areas in short time, Eremenko et al. use data from the infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer (IASI), launched in October 2006 on board Europe's MetOp-A satellite, to compile the first day-by-day tropospheric ozone columns (from 0 to 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) in altitude) over Europe during the heat wave of July 2007.
Comparing the results with selected balloonsonde measurements of ozone shows excellent agreement. Further, the ozone concentrations from IASI match well the predictions of a regional chemistry-transport model.
This study demonstrates the capability of infrared satellite observations to monitor tropospheric ozone and to improve the forecasts of air quality and climate models.-American Geophysical Union
