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We present an Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) dedicated to the evaluation of the added value of the Sentinel 4 and Sentinel 5P missions for tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Sentinel 4 is a geostationary (GEO) mission covering the European continent, providing observations with high temporal resolution (hourly). Sentinel 5P is a low-Earth Orbiting (LEO) mission providing daily observations but with a global coverage. The OSSE experiment has been carefully designed, with separate models for the simulation of observations and for the assimilation experiments, and with conservative estimates of the total observation uncertainties. In the experiment we simulate Sentinel 4 and Sentinel 5P tropospheric NO2 columns and surface ozone concentrations at 7 by 7 km resolution over Europe for two three-month summer and winter periods. The synthetic observations are based on a nature run (NR) from a chemistry transport model (MOCAGE) and error estimates using instrument characteristics. We assimilate the simulated observations into a chemistry transport model (LOTOS-EUROS) independent from the NR to evaluate their impact on modelled NO2 tropospheric columns and surface concentrations. The results are compared to an operational system where only ground-based ozone observations are ingested. Both instruments have an added value on analysed NO2 columns and surface values, reflected in decreased biases, and improved correlations. The Sentinel 4 NO2 observations with hourly temporal resolution benefit modelled NO2 analyses throughout the entire day where the daily Sentinel 5P NO2 observations have a slightly lower impact that lasts up to 3–6 hours after overpass. The evaluated benefits may be even higher in reality as the applied error estimates were shown to be higher than actual errors in the now operational Sentinel 5P NO2 products. We show that an accurate representation of the NO2 profile is crucial for the benefit of the column observations on surface values. The results support the need for having a combination of GEO and LEO missions for NO2 analyses in view of the complementary benefits of hourly temporal resolution (GEO, Sentinel 4) and global coverage (LEO, Sentinel 5P).

We present an Observing System Simulation Experiment (OSSE) dedicated to the evaluation of the added value of the Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5P missions for tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Sentinel-4 is a geostationary (GEO) mission covering the European continent, providing observations with high temporal resolution (hourly). Sentinel-5P is a low Earth orbit (LEO) mission providing daily observations with a global coverage. The OSSE experiment has been carefully designed, with separate models for the simulation of observations and for the assimilation experiments and with conservative estimates of the total observation uncertainties. In the experiment we simulate Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5P tropospheric NO2 columns and surface ozone concentrations at 7 by 7 km resolution over Europe for two 3-month summer and winter periods. The synthetic observations are based on a nature run (NR) from a chemistry transport model (MOCAGE) and error estimates using instrument characteristics. We assimilate the simulated observations into a chemistry transport model (LOTOS-EUROS) independent of the NR to evaluate their impact on modelled NO2 tropospheric columns and surface concentrations. The results are compared to an operational system where only ground-based ozone observations are ingested. Both instruments have an added value to analysed NO2 columns and surface values, reflected in decreased biases and improved correlations. The Sentinel-4 NO2 observations with hourly temporal resolution benefit modelled NO2 analyses throughout the entire day where the daily Sentinel-5P NO2 observations have a slightly lower impact that lasts up to 3–6 h after overpass. The evaluated benefits may be even higher in reality as the applied error estimates were shown to be higher than actual errors in the now operational Sentinel-5P NO2 products. We show that an accurate representation of the NO2 profile is crucial for the benefit of the column observations on surface values. The results support the need for having a combination of GEO and LEO missions for NO2 analyses in view of the complementary benefits of hourly temporal resolution (GEO, Sentinel-4) and global coverage (LEO, Sentinel-5P).

International audience; The amount of ice injected up to the tropical tropopause layer has a strong radiative impact on climate. In the tropics, the Maritime Continent (MariCont) region presents the largest injection of ice by deep convection into the upper troposphere (UT) and tropopause level (TL) (from results presented in the companion paper Part 1). This study focuses on the MariCont region and aims to assess the processes, the areas and the diurnal amount and duration of ice injected by deep convection over islands and over seas using a 2 • × 2 • horizontal resolution during the austral convective season of December, January and February. The model presented in the companion paper is used to estimate the amount of ice injected (∆IWC) up to the TL by combining ice water content (IWC) measured twice a day in tropical UT and TL by the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS; Version 4.2), from 2004 to 2017, and precipitation (Prec) measurement from the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM; Version 007) at high temporal resolution (1 hour). The horizontal distribution of ∆IWC estimated from Prec (∆IWC P rec) is presented at 2 • × 2 • horizontal resolution over the MariCont. ∆IWC is also evaluated by using the number of lightnings (Flash) from the TRMM-LIS instrument (Lightning Imaging Sensor, from 2004 to 2015 at 1-h and 0.25 • ×0.25 • resolutions). ∆IWC P rec and ∆IWC estimated from Flash (∆IWC F lash) are compared to ∆IWC estimated from the ERA5 reanalyses (∆IWC ERA5) degrading the vertical resolution to that of MLS observations (∆IW C ERA5). Our study shows that, while the diurnal cycles of Prec and Flash are consistent to each other in timing and phase over lands and different over offshore and coastal areas of the MariCont, the observational ∆IWC range between ∆IWC P rec and ∆IWC F lash is small (to within 4-20% over land and to within 6-50% over ocean) in the UT and TL. The reanalysis ∆IWC range between ∆IWC ERA5 and ∆IW C ERA5 has been also found to be small in the UT (22-32 %) but large in the TL (68-71 %), highlighting the stronger impact of the vertical resolution on the TL than in the UT. Combining observational and reanalysis ∆IWC ranges, the total ∆IWC range is estimated in the UT between 4.17 and 9.97 mg m-3 (20 % of variability per study zone) over land and between 0.35 and 4.37 mg m-3 (30% of variability per study zone) over sea, and, in the TL, between 0.63 and 3.65 mg m-3 (70% of variability per study zone) over land and between 0.04 and 0.74 mg m-3 (80% of variability per study zone) over sea. Finally, from IWC ERA5 , Prec and Flash, this study highlights 1) ∆IWC over land has been found larger than ∆IWC over sea, and 2) the Java Island is the area of the largest ∆IWC in the UT (7.89-8.72 mg m-3 daily mean).