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

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.