The 2021 ozone hole evolution seems comparable to in 2015s size, presently around 23 million sq km– reaching an extent larger than Antarctica. According to CAMS, the 2021 ozone hole has substantially grown in the last two weeks and is now bigger than 75% of ozone holes at that phase in the season given that 1979. This map is focused on the Antarctic area. Locations coloured yellow, orange and red depict high ozone worths, whereas green and blue locations show low values. Credit: Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service/ECMWF
World governments concurred in the late 1980s to protect Earths ozone layer by phasing out ozone-depleting compounds produced by human activities, under the Montreal Protocol. The phase out of these compounds has not only helped protect the ozone layer for future generations but has likewise protected human health and environments by limiting the damaging ultraviolet radiation from reaching Earth. On September 16, the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, we take a closer look at this years ozone hole.
The ozone layer in the environment protects Earth from possibly hazardous ultraviolet radiation. In the 1970s, researchers discovered that the ozone layer was being depleted.
Climatic conditions of ozone differ naturally depending on temperature level, latitude, elevation and weather condition, while compounds ejected by natural events such as volcanic eruptions can likewise affect ozone levels. Nevertheless, these natural phenomena could not explain the levels of depletion observed and it was found that particular human-made chemicals were the cause.
The 2021 ozone hole advancement appears to be similar to last years size, presently around 23 million sq km– reaching a degree bigger than Antarctica. According to CAMS, the 2021 ozone hole has substantially grown in the last 2 weeks and is now bigger than 75% of ozone holes at that stage in the season given that 1979. On September 16, the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, we take a closer look at this years ozone hole.
The big ozone hole was driven by a strong, stable and cold polar vortex which kept the temperature level of the ozone layer over Antarctica consistently cold. Most ozone-measuring satellites, such as the Copernicus Sentinel-5P objective, offer a value for the quantity of ozone in a column– indicating the total quantity of ozone in a column of air from the ground to the top of the environment.
Ozone deficiency is biggest at the South Pole. This exhaustion produces what is referred to as the ozone hole. From August to October, the ozone hole increases in size– reaching an optimum between mid-September and mid-October.
The 2021 ozone hole advancement appears to be comparable to in 2015s size, currently around 23 million sq km– reaching a level larger than Antarctica. Credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel information (2021 ), processed by DLR
The Montreal Protocol was developed in 1987 to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production and intake of these damaging compounds, which is slowly leading to its recovery. A few of the ozone-depleting substances released by human activities remain in the stratosphere for years, indicating that ozone layer healing is a really slow, long process.
The Montreal Protocol demonstrates the power of international dedication to securing our environment. Satellite data provide an excellent ways to monitor modifications of the ozone layer on international scale. Ozone measurements from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite extend the European time-series that started in 1995 with the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME).
These information can be used for long-term trend tracking and provide ozone measurements simply three hours after measurement time to the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), operated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) for ozone tracking and forecasting.
The ozone hole today
Information from Sentinel-5P was used to show that in 2015s ozone hole over the Antarctic was one of the biggest and deepest in the last few years. The hole proliferated from mid-August and peaked at around 25 million sq km on 2 October. The big ozone hole was driven by a strong, cold and stable polar vortex which kept the temperature of the ozone layer over Antarctica consistently cold. This was in plain contrast with the abnormally small ozone hole that formed in 2019.
This year, the ozone holes advancement seems comparable to last years size, presently around 23 million sq km– reaching an extent bigger than Antarctica. According to CAMS, the 2021 ozone hole has actually considerably grown in the last two weeks and is now larger than 75% of ozone holes at that stage in the season since 1979.
Antje Inness, a senior researcher at ECMWF, commented, “This ozone evolution is what we would expect given the present atmospheric conditions. The development of the ozone hole over the coming weeks will be exceptionally fascinating.”
ESAs Copernicus Sentinel-5P mission manager, Claus Zehner, added, “Sentinel-5P ozone measurements are an essential contribution to global ozone tracking and forecasting in the frame of the Copernicus program.
” The monitoring of the ozone hole over the South Pole should be analyzed thoroughly as the size, period and the ozone concentrations of a single hole are influenced by the regional wind fields, or meteorology, around the South Pole. Nonetheless, we expect a closing of the ozone hole over the South Pole by the year 2050.”
The Atmospheric Limb Tracker for Investigation of the Upcoming Stratosphere (Altius) will provide high-resolution profiles of stratospheric ozone and other atmospheric trace gases. Credit: QinetiQ Space
Looking ahead
Satellites orbiting above are the only way of determining the ozones healing and change in a constant and systematic manner. The majority of ozone-measuring satellites, such as the Copernicus Sentinel-5P objective, provide a worth for the amount of ozone in a column– implying the overall amount of ozone in a column of air from the ground to the top of the atmosphere. In combination, profiles, which reveal concentrations at various altitudes, are likewise needed to gain the complete picture.
The upcoming Atmospheric Limb Tracker for Investigation of the Upcoming Stratosphere (Altius) objective, set to release in 2025, will provide profiles of ozone and other trace gases in the upper atmosphere to support services such as weather condition forecasting, and to monitor long-term patterns.
Altius brings a high-resolution 2D imager that observes ozone from side-on, at Earths limb or atmospheric boundary. This limb-sounding technique allows ozone to be seen at different altitudes, thus providing vertical profiles of various ozone concentrations. Along with ozone, Altius will likewise provide profiles of other trace gases such as nitrogen dioxide, water vapour and aerosol information.
