Tropospheric ozone affects air quality and climate, being a pollutant and a greenhouse gas. We analyze satellite data of tropospheric ozone columns obtained by combining two types of observations: one providing stratospheric and the other total ozone. We compare common climatological features and study the influence of the tropopause (troposphere to stratosphere boundary) on the results. We also examine trends over the last 20 years and compare satellite data with ozonesondes to identify drifts.

Cloud optical parameterizations (COPs) in Radiative Transfer for TOVS are evaluated by comparing observed and synthetic visible satellite images. The optimal COP for liquid water cloud is parameterized in terms of effective diameter (D_eff) and the COP for ice cloud developed by the Space Science and Engineering Center, with D_eff for ice cloud parameterized in terms of ice water content and temperature. The findings will benefit the remote sensing and data assimilation community.