Stratospheric ozone: satellite observations, data assimilation and forecasts

Ozone data assimilation is receiving increasing attention over the past five years. This development is related to vertical extensions of numerical weather prediction models that include the full stratosphere. In particular assimilation-based reanalysis runs that include ozone as prognostic variable are very valuable for atmospheric chemistry research, protocol monitoring and NWP. This paper provides a short overview of satellite ozone observations, ozone data assimilation and ozone forecasting. The focus will be on aspects related to numerical weather prediction. The performance of the KNMI ozone assimilation system is discussed in more detail.