GOME-2 total ozone columns from MetOp-A/MetOp-B and assimilation in the MACC system

The two Global Ozone Monitoring Instrument (GOME-2) sensors operated in tandem are flying onboard EUMETSAT’s MetOp-A and MetOp-B satellites, launched in October 2006 and September 2012 respectively. Here we present the operational GOME-2/MetOp-A (GOME-2A) and GOME-2/MetOp-B (GOME-2B) total ozone products provided by the EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Ozone and Atmospheric Chemistry Monitoring (O3M-SAF). These products are generated using the retrieval algorithm GOME Data Processor (GDP) version 4.7, the latest version of the GDP 4.x algorithm, which was also employed for the generation of Level 2 total ozone and other trace gas products from GOME/ERS-2 and SCIAMACHY/ENVISAT. The enhancements in GDP 4.7, including the application of Brion-Daumont-Malicet ozone absorption cross-sections, are presented here. On a global scale, GOME-2B has the same high accuracy as the corresponding GOME-2A products. There is an excellent agreement between the ozone total columns from the two sensors, with GOME-2B values slightly lower with a mean difference of only 0.55±0.29%. First global validation results for 6 months of GOME-2B total ozone measurements using Brewer and Dobson measurements as references are also presented. On average the GOME-2B total ozone data obtained with GDP 4.7 slightly overestimate Dobson observations by about 2.0±1.0% and Brewer observations by about 1.0±0.8%. It is concluded that the total ozone columns (TOCs) provided by GOME-2A and GOME-2B are consistent and may be used simultaneously without introducing trends or other systematic effects. GOME-2A total ozone data have been used operationally in the Copernicus atmospheric service project MACC-II (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate - Interim Implementation) near-real-time (NRT) system since October 2013. The magnitude of the bias correction needed for assimilating GOME-2A ozone is reduced (to about -6 DU in the global mean) when the GOME-2 ozone retrieval algorithm changed to GDP 4.7