Sentinel-5P switches to upgraded processors for air-quality and trace-gas products

The Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem reports that the Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) operational ground-processing system was updated on 11 November 2026. The change had been pre-announced in October.

New processor versions cover three product groups. Level-1B moves to v03.00.00 for the radiance and irradiance products. The NL-L2 processor is now v02.09.01 and covers UV aerosol index, aerosol layer height, methane, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone profile and the auxiliary surface elevation and classification data. The UPAS processor is v02.08.00 and covers formaldehyde, sulphur dioxide, cloud properties, total ozone and tropospheric ozone columns.

Data produced with the new versions is available on the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem. Near-real-time products start from orbit 47046 on 11 November 2026. Offline products start from orbit 47001 on 8 November 2026. Near-real-time products for data acquired during the processing downtime were not generated, so users will find a gap in that stream.

Details of the changes are to be published in updated Product Readme Files on the SentiWiki.

Why it matters: Anyone using S5P NO2, CO, methane, SO2 or ozone data for air-quality or climate work in Africa will have a mix of old and new processor versions in their archives. They should check the readme files, note the cut-over orbits and allow for the near-real-time gap.

Sources: Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem