Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Nimbus 7 satellite measurements of the springtime Antarctic ozone decrease

Abstract

Farman et al.1 have reported a rapid decrease, since their measurements started in 1957, of the total column amount of ozone in late winter and early spring over the Halley Bay station in Antarctica (76° S, 27° W). The decrease was most pronounced in October, early spring in the Southern Hemisphere. They attributed the decrease to the increase in stratospheric chlorine due to chloro-fluorocarbon release, and proposed that the unique conditions of extreme cold and low sunlight in the Antarctic winter and spring enhanced the effect. We report measurements from the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV) instrument and the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) aboard the Nimbus 7 satellite, a Sun-synchronous polar-orbiting satellite which passes any given point on the dayside near local noon. These provide global measurements of ozone from November 1978 to the present which confirm the reported decline of total ozone and show the phenomenon to be regional in extent. The decrease occurs during September as the Sun rises, reaching a minimum in mid-October. Seven years (1979–1985) of October monthly means show a 40% decrease in the ozone minimum and a 20% decrease in the surrounding ozone maximum.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Farman, J. C., Gardiner, B. G. & Shanklin, J. D. Nature 315, 207–210 (1985).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Heath, D. F., Krueger, A. J., Roeder, H. A. & Henderson, B. D. Opt. Engng 14, 323–330 (1975).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Klenk, K. F. et al. J. appl Met. 21, 1672–1684 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Dave, J. V. J. atmos. Sci 35, 889–911 (1978).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Iwasaka, Y. et al. Middle Atmosphere Program Handbook, Vol. 18 (ed. Kato, S.) 450–452 (SCOSTEP Secretariat, Urbana, 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  6. McCormick, M. P., Steele, H. M., Hamill, P., Chu, W. P. & Swissler, T. J. J. atmos. Sci. 39, 1387–1397 (1982).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Sticksel, P. R. Mon. Weath. Rev. 98, 787–788 (1970).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Hasebe, F. in Dynamics of the Middle Atmosphere(eds Holton, J. R. & Matsuno, T.) 445–464 (Terra Scientific, Tokyo, 1984).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. Hilsenrath, E. & Schlesinger, B. M. J geophys. Res. 86, 12087–12096 (1981).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Chubachi, S. in Atmospheric Ozone (eds Zerefos, C. S. & Ghazi, A.) (Reidel, Dordrecht, 1984).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Miller, A. J., Finger, F. G. & Gelman, M. E. NASA tech. Memo. No. TMX-2109 (Washington, DC, 1970).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Rood, R. B. Pure appl. Geophys. 121, 1049–1064 (1983).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Solomon, S., Garcia, R. R., Rowland, F. S. & Wuebbles, D. J. Nature 321, 755–758 (1986).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. McElroy, M. B., Salawitch, R. J., Wofsy, S. C. & Logan, J. A. Nature 321, 759–762 (1986).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Tung, K. K., Ko, M. K. W., Rodriguez, J. M. & Sze, N. D. Nature 322, 811 (1986).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Stolarski, R., Krueger, A., Schoeberl, M. et al. Nimbus 7 satellite measurements of the springtime Antarctic ozone decrease. Nature 322, 808–811 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/322808a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/322808a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing