Spatial observation of the ozone layer

Abstract

This article provides an overview of the various satellite instruments, which have been used to observe stratospheric ozone and other chemical compounds playing a key role in stratospheric chemistry. It describes the various instruments that have been launched since the late 1970s for the measurement of total ozone column and ozone vertical profile, as well as the major satellite missions designed for the study of stratospheric chemistry. Since the discovery of the ozone hole in the early 1980s, spatial ozone measurements have been widely used to evaluate and quantify the spatial extension of polar ozone depletion and global ozone decreasing trends as a function of latitude and height. Validation and evaluation of satellite ozone data have been the subject of intense scientific activity, which was reported in the various ozone assessments of the state of the ozone layer published after the signature of the Montreal protocol. Major results, based on satellite observations for the study of ozone depletion at the global scale and chemical polar ozone loss, are provided. The use of satellite observations for the validation of chemistry climate models that simulate the recovery of the ozone layer and in data assimilation is also described.