Vertical profiles of global seasonal mean nitrogen dioxide in five distinct layers in the troposphere

Two datasets (and files) are provided. Both are vertical profiles of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) in five distinct layers in the atmosphere: one in the boundary layer (below 800 hPa), two in the middle troposphere (800-600 hPa, 600-450 hPa), and two in the upper troposphere (450-320 hPa, 320-180 hPa). The first is derived with TROPOMI satellite observations and the second simulated with the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model (CTM).

The satellite-derived data are obtained by cloud-slicing TROPOMI partial columns (stratosphere + troposphere) of NO₂ retrieved above optically thick clouds (optical cloud fraction > 0.7) from June 2018 to May 2022 to obtain seasonal multiyear mean global gridded (1^o x 1^o) NO₂.

The second dataset is GEOS-Chem NO₂ at 2^o x 2.5^o sampled at 12:00-15:00 local solar time (LST) to be centred at the TROPOMI overpass time (13:30 LST). The model data are also multiyear means, but for 2016-2019.

Evaluation of the satellite-derived data against NASA DC8 aircraft observations and application of the evaluated cloud-sliced data to assess current understanding of tropospheric NO_x as simulated with the GEOS-Chem model are detailed in the accompanying paper submitted for review in the Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP) journal.