Metop-A
satellite measures ozone hole
October
5, 2007
The
“ozone hole” is not shrinking, scientists at the Deutsche Zentrum für Luft-
und Raumfahrt (DLR), the German Aerospace Center, have found after analysing
data from the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment 2 (GOME-2) instrument on board
EUMETSAT’s Metop-A polar operating satellite, Europe’s new meteorological
satellite.
The
atmospheric data from GOME-2 measurements were derived by the DLR’s Remote
Sensing Technology Institute in Oberpfaffenhofen at the request of
EUMETSAT. Initial validation of GOME-2 ozone data by ground measurements
confirmed the high quality of the satellite data.
The DLR’s German Remote Sensing
Data Center (DFD) processes GOME-2 ozone data by combining it with models which
describe meteorology, physics and atmospheric chemistry, allowing the mapping of
the ozone layer and the prediction of ozone distribution. These models can
provide additional information, such as the determination of chemical depletion
of ozone; up-to-date ozone data and ozone depletion rates are available daily in
near real time on the Internet at the World Data Centre for Remote Sensing of
the Atmosphere, which is run by the DFD on behalf of the International Council
of Scientific Unions. The EUMETSAT Metop-A satellite will collect data for
monitoring the ozone in the next 15 years.
The main cause of the depletion
of the atmosphere’s protective ozone layer is the release of chlorinated
fluorocarbons. This depletion, which is most noticeable over the Arctic and
Antarctic regions, is of particular environmental concern as the resulting
increased levels of ultraviolet radiation can cause serious damage to human
health, agriculture, forests and water ecosystems.
Current ozone hole over the
Antarctic
The DLR noted a strong reversal
in the spreading of the ozone hole in mid-September because of an unusual
meteorological constellation in the south polar stratosphere. An unusually high
intensity of planetary waves – which cause air circulation around the world
– resulted in the thinning of the ozone layer, especially over the south
Atlantic and South America. At the same time, the ozone level rose over
Australia and the ozone hole was at its minimum size on 20 September.
But this year’s ozone hole over
the Antarctic was at its maximum size, twice as big as Europe, at the end of
September. The ozone layer had thinned down to 220 Dobson units, a measure of
atmospheric ozone, specifically ozone in the stratospheric ozone layer. The
global average of the ozone layer is 300 Dobson units.
About EUMETSAT
The European Organisation for the
Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites is an intergovernmental organisation
based in Darmstadt, Germany, currently with 20 European Member States (Austria,
Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,
Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom) and 10 Cooperating States (Bulgaria,
Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and the
Czech Republic).
EUMETSAT is operating the
geostationary satellites Meteosat-8 and -9 over Europe and Africa, and
Meteosat-6 and -7 over the Indian Ocean.
Metop-A, the first European
polar-orbiting satellite, was launched in October 2006 and has been delivering
operational data since 15 May 2007.
The data, products and services
from EUMETSAT’s satellites make a significant contribution to weather
forecasting and to the monitoring of the global climate.
DLR DLR is Germany's national
research centre for aeronautics and space. Its extensive research and
development work is integrated into national and international cooperative
ventures. As Germany's Space Agency, the German federal government has given DLR
responsibility for the forward planning and implementation of the German space
programme as well as international representation of Germany's interests.
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