The effect of using limited scene-dependent averaging kernels approximations for the implementation of fast Observing System Simulation Experiments targeted on lower tropospheric ozone

Practical implementations of chemical OSSEs (Observing System Simulation Experiments) usually rely on approximations of the pseudo-observations by means of a prior parametrization of the averaging kernels, which describe the sensitivity of the observing systems to the target atmospheric species. This is intended to avoid the need for use of a computationally expensive pseudo-observations simulator that relies on full radiative transfer calculations. Here we present an investigation on how no, or limited, scene dependent averaging kernels parametrizations may misrepresent the sensitivity of an observing system, and thus possibly lead to inaccurate results of OSSEs. We carried out the full radiative transfer calculation for a three-days period over Europe, to produce reference pseudo-observations of lower tropospheric ozone, as they would be observed by a concept geostationary observing system called MAGEAQ (Monitoring the Atmosphere from Geostationary orbit for European Air Quality). The selected spatiotemporal interval is characterized by a peculiar ozone pollution event. We then compared our reference with approximated pseudo-observations, following existing simulation exercises made for both the MAGEAQ and GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) missions. We found that approximated averaging kernels may fail to replicate the variability of the full radiative transfer calculations. Then, we compared the full radiative transfer and the approximated pseudo-observations during a pollution event. We found that the approximations substantially overestimate the capability of the MAGEAQ to follow the spatiotemporal variations of the lower tropospheric ozone in selected areas. We conclude that such approximations may lead to false conclusions if used in an OSSE. Thus, we recommend to use comprehensive scene-dependent approximations of the averaging kernels, in cases where the full radiative transfer is computationally too costly for the OSSE being investigated.