We evaluate a decadal ozone profile record derived from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) satellite instrument. In 2023, the OMPS LP data were re-processed with the new version 2.6 retrieval algorithm that combines measurements from the ultraviolet (UV) and visible (VIS) parts of the spectra and employs the second order Tikhonov regularization to retrieve a single vertical ozone profile between 12.5 km (or cloud tops) and 57.5 km with the vertical resolution of about 1.9 - 2.5 km between 20-55 km. The algorithm uses radiances measured at six UV ozone-sensitive wavelengths (295, 302, 306, 312, 317 and 322 nm) paired with 353 nm, and one VIS wavelength at 606 nm combined with 510 nm and 675 nm to form a triplet. Each wavelength pair or triplet is used over a limited range of tangent altitudes where the sensitivity to ozone changes are strongest. A new implemented aerosol correction scheme is based on a gamma-function particle size distribution. Numerous calibration changes that affected ozone retrievals were also applied to measured LP radiances, including updates in altitude registration, radiometric calibration, stray light, and spectral registration. The key version 2.6 improvement is the reduction in relative drifts between LP ozone and correlative measurements, linked previously to a drift in the version 2.5 LP altitude registration. We compare LP ozone profiles with those from Aura Microwave Limb Sensor (MLS) to quantify ozone changes in version 2.6.

In this study, we present evaluation of version 3 ozone products derived from the DSCOVR EPIC instrument. EPIC’s total and tropospheric ozone columns have been compared with correlative satellite and ground-based measurements at time scales from daily averages to monthly means. We found that the agreement improves if we only accept retrievals derived from the EPIC 317 nm triplet and limit solar zenith and satellite looking angles to 70°. With such filtering in place, the comparisons of EPIC total columns with correlative satellite and ground-based data show mean differences within ±5-7 DU (or 1.5-2.5%). The biases with OMI and OMPS NM tend to be mostly negative in the Southern Hemisphere (SH), while there are no clear latitudinal patterns in ground-based comparisons. Evaluation of the EPIC ozone time series at different ground-based stations with the correlative ground-based Brewer and Pandora instruments and ozonesondes demonstrated good consistency in capturing ozone variations at daily, weekly and monthly scales with a persistently high correlation (r2>0.9) for total and tropospheric columns. We examined the quality of EPIC tropospheric ozone columns by comparing with ozonesondes at 12 stations and found that differences in tropospheric column ozone are within ±2.5 DU (or ~±10%) after removing a constant 3 DU offset at all stations between EPIC and sondes. The analysis of the time series of zonally averaged EPIC tropospheric ozone revealed a statistically significant drop of ~2-4 DU (~5-10%) over the entire NH in spring and summer of 2020, which is partially related to the unprecedented Arctic stratospheric ozone losses in winter-spring 2019/2020 and reductions in ozone precursor pollutants due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seasonal ozone depletion in the polar regions (during late winter and early spring) depends on the presence and distribution of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). In this paper, we present new satellite observations of PSCs by the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Limb Profiler (LP) instrument. LP cloud detections are identified as PSCs based on location, altitude, and background atmosphere temperature. The hyperspectral capabilities of OMPS LP enable PSC detection to occur concurrent with stratospheric ozone measurements from the same instrument. We present PSC results from the Northern Hemisphere 2019-2010 winter/spring season to illustrate the exceptional nature of this season. Future OMPS LP instruments flying on Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites will continue PSC observations into the 2030s.

The Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment III on the International Space Station (SAGE III/ISS) was launched on February 19, 2017 and began routine operation in June 2017. The first two years of SAGE III/ISS (v5.1) solar ozone data were evaluated by using correlative satellite and ground-based measurements. Among the three (MES, AO3, and MLR) SAGE III/ISS solar ozone products, AO3 ozone shows the best accuracy and precision, with mean biases less than 5% for altitudes ~15–55 km in the mid-latitudes and ~20–55 km in the tropics. In the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere, AO3 ozone shows high biases that increase with decreasing altitudes and reach ~10% near the tropopause. Preliminary studies indicate that those high biases primarily result from the contributions of the oxygen dimer (O) not being appropriately removed within the ozone channel. The precision of AO3 ozone is estimated to be ~3% for altitudes between 20 and 40 km. It degrades to ~10–15% in the lower mesosphere (~55 km), and ~20–30% near the tropopause. There could be an altitude registration error of ~100 meter in the SAGE III/ISS auxiliary temperature and pressure profiles. This, however, does not affect retrieved ozone profiles in native number density on geometric altitude coordinates. In the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere (~40–55 km) the SAGE III/ISS (and SAGE II) sunset ozone values are systematically higher than sunrise data by ~5–8% which are almost twice larger than what observed by other satellites or model predictions. This feature needs further study.