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Dataset

 

ESA Precursors for Aerosols and Ozone Climate Change Initiative (Precursors_cci): monthly L3 HCHO from TROPOMI, version 2.0

Latest Data Update: 2026-02-02
Status: Completed
Online Status: ONLINE
Publication State: Published
Publication Date: 2026-04-01
Download Stats: last 12 months
Dataset Size: 81 Files | 110GB

Abstract

The Formaldehyde (HCHO) Climate Data Record (CDR) product is a Level 3 (L3) HCHO product developed by using satellite data from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) (on Sentinel 5P) as part of the ESA (European Space Agency) Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Precursors for Aerosols and Ozone project.

This dataset provides gridded HCHO tropospheric column densities of monthly 0.125°x0.125° resolution grids from May 2018 to December 2024. The L3 product is based on the Level 2 HCHO product created for the Precursors_cci project.

Compared to the operational TROPOMI product, the air mass factors have been reprocessed using an update albedo climatology, and the CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) Reanalysis Model for the a priori vertical profiles. The background correction and the quality values have also been updated. In addition to the main product results, such as HCHO slant column, vertical column and air mass factor, the Level 3 data files contain several additional parameters and diagnostic information such as uncertainties, a priori profiles and averaging kernels.

The version number is 2.0. Data are available in NetCDF format. https://doi.org/10.18758/y591kda5

The European Space Agency (ESA) Precursors for Aerosol and Ozone Climate Change Initiative (Precursors CCI) project is part of ESA's Climate Change Initiative (CCI) to produce long term datasets of Essential Climate Variables derived from global satellite data (https://climate.esa.int/en/projects/precursors-for-aerosols-and-ozone/).

Citable as:  De Smedt, I.; Vlietinck, J.; Yu, H.; Theys, N.; Danckaert, T.; Van Roozendael, M. (2026): ESA Precursors for Aerosols and Ozone Climate Change Initiative (Precursors_cci): monthly L3 HCHO from TROPOMI, version 2.0. NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis, date of citation. https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/6081f484b28e42a08e75438c9384e877

Abbreviation: Not defined
Keywords: ESA, CCI, Precursors

Details

Previous Info:
No news update for this record
Previously used record identifiers:
No related previous identifiers.
Access rules:
Public data: access to these data is available to both registered and non-registered users.
Use of these data is covered by the following licence(s):
https://artefacts.ceda.ac.uk/licences/specific_licences/esacci_precursors_for_aerosols_and_ozone_terms_and_conditions.pdf
When using these data you must cite them correctly using the citation given on the CEDA Data Catalogue record.
Data lineage:

Data were produced by the project team and supplied for archiving at the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis (CEDA).

File Format:
netcdf

Process overview

This dataset was generated by a combination of instruments deployed on platforms and computations as detailed below.

Instrument/Platform pairings

TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) Deployed on: Sentinel 5 Precursor

Computation Element: 1

Title Computation of ESA Precursors for Aerosols and Ozone Climate Change Initiative (Precursors_cci): monthly L3 HCHO from TROPOMI, version 2.0
Abstract The Formaldehyde(HCHO) Climate Data Record (CDR) product is a Level 3 HCHO product developed by using satellite data from the TROPOMI instrument (on S5P) as part of the ESA Climate Change Initiative (CCI) Precursors for Aerosols and Ozone project. This dataset provides gridded HCHO tropospheric column densities of monthly 0.125°x0.125° resolution grids from May 2018 to December 2024. Compared to the operational TROPOMI product, the air mass factors have been reprocessed using an update albedo climatology, and the CAMS Reanalysis Model for the a priori vertical profiles. The background correction and the quality values have also been updated. In addition to the main product results, such as HCHO slant column, vertical column and air mass factor, the Level 3 data files contain several additional parameters and diagnostic information such as uncertainties, a priori profiles and averaging kernels.
Input Description None
Output Description None
Software Reference None
Output Description

None

  • units: 1
  • var_id: qa_L3
  • long_name: HCHO QA L3
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: HCHO_slant_column_number_density
  • long_name: HCHO SCD
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: HCHO_slant_column_number_density_uncertainty
  • long_name: HCHO SCDE
  • standard_name: troposphere_mole_content_of_formaldehyde
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density
  • long_name: HCHO VCD
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_apriori
  • long_name: HCHO VCD CTM
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_std
  • long_name: HCHO VCD STD
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_clear
  • long_name: HCHO VCD clear
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_clear_OS
  • long_name: HCHO VCD clear OS
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_clear_std
  • long_name: HCHO VCD clear STD
  • units: 1
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_count
  • long_name: HCHO VCD count
  • units: 1
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_weight
  • long_name: HCHO VCD weight
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_background_correction
  • long_name: HCHO VCD0
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_uncertainty_random
  • long_name: HCHO VCDER
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_uncertainty_systematic
  • long_name: HCHO VCDES
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_uncertainty_systematic_kernel
  • long_name: HCHO VCDESK
  • units: ppv
  • var_id: HCHO_volume_mixing_ratio_dry_air_apriori
  • long_name: HCHO a priori profile
  • units: molec/cm^2
  • var_id: HCHO_slant_column_number_density_corrected
  • long_name: HCHO bc-corrected SCD
  • units: 1
  • var_id: HCHO_averaging_kernel
  • long_name: HCHO column averaging kernel
  • units: 1
  • var_id: HCHO_averaging_kernel_clear
  • long_name: HCHO column clear averaging kernel
  • units: 1
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_amf
  • long_name: HCHO tropospheric AMF (340nm)
  • units: 1
  • var_id: tropospheric_HCHO_column_number_density_amf_clear
  • long_name: HCHO tropospheric clear AMF (340nm)
  • units: 1
  • var_id: count
  • long_name: Harp count
  • units: 1
  • var_id: weight
  • long_name: Harp weight
  • units: 1
  • var_id: HCHO_slant_column_number_density_rms
  • long_name: RMS of the DOAS fits
  • units: degree
  • var_id: solar_zenith_angle
  • standard_name: solar_zenith_angle
  • long_name: SZA
  • units: degree
  • standard_name: sensor_zenith_angle
  • var_id: sensor_zenith_angle
  • long_name: VZA
  • units: 1
  • var_id: cloud_fraction
  • long_name: cloud fraction
  • units: hPa
  • var_id: cloud_pressure
  • long_name: cloud pressure
  • units: hPa
  • var_id: ctm_sigma_a
  • long_name: ctm sigma-values a
  • units: 1
  • var_id: ctm_sigma_b
  • long_name: ctm sigma-values b
  • units: days
  • var_id: eff_date
  • long_name: effective date
  • units: 1
  • var_id: eff_fract_day
  • long_name: effective fractional day in local solar time
  • var_id: latitude_bounds
  • long_name: grid latitude bounds
  • var_id: longitude_bounds
  • long_name: grid longitude bounds
  • units: 1
  • var_id: intensity_weighted_cloud_fraction
  • long_name: intensity-weighted cloud radiance fraction (340 nm)
  • units: 1
  • long_name: land sea mask
  • var_id: land_water_mask
  • units: 1
  • standard_name: atmosphere_hybrid_sigma_pressure_coordinate
  • var_id: layer
  • long_name: layer dimension index
  • units: 1
  • var_id: surface_albedo
  • long_name: surface LER (340nm)
  • units: hPa
  • long_name: surface pressure
  • var_id: surface_pressure
  • units: K
  • var_id: surface_temperature
  • long_name: surface temperature
  • var_id: eastward_wind
  • units: m/s
  • long_name: u
  • var_id: northward_wind
  • units: m/s
  • long_name: v

Co-ordinate Variables

  • units: degree_north
  • standard_name: latitude
  • var_id: latitude
  • units: degree_east
  • standard_name: longitude
  • var_id: longitude
  • standard_name: time
  • var_id: time
  • units: days
  • long_name: number of days since 1995-01-01
Coverage
Temporal Range
Start time:
2018-05-01T00:00:00
End time:
2024-12-31T23:59:59
Geographic Extent

 
90.0000°
 
-180.0000°
 
180.0000°
 
-90.0000°