LESO: A ten-year ensemble of satellite-derived intercontinental hourly surface ozone concentrations

Abstract

This study presents a novel ensemble of surface ozone (O3) generated by the LEarning Surface Ozone (LESO) framework. The aim of this study is to investigate the spatial and temporal variation of surface O3. The LESO ensemble provides unique and accurate hourly (daily/monthly/yearly as needed) O3 surface concentrations on a fine spatial resolution of 0.1◦ × 0.1◦ across China, Europe, and the United States over a period of 10 years (2012–2021). The LESO ensemble was generated by establishing the relationship between surface O3 and satellite-derived O3 total columns together with high-resolution meteorological reanalysis data. This breakthrough overcomes the challenge of retrieving O3 in the lower atmosphere from satellite signals. A comprehensive validation indicated that the LESO datasets explained approximately 80% of the hourly variability of O3, with a root mean squared error of 19.63 μg/m3. The datasets convincingly captured the diurnal cycles, weekend effects, seasonality, and interannual variability, which can be valuable for research and applications related to atmospheric and climate sciences.