Daily global mapping of the Earth's ozone layer from space has resumed with the acquisition of the first image from the U.S. Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instrument aboard the Japanese Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) on September 12.
ADEOS continues the series of TOMS total ozone and volcanic sulfur dioxide observations that began with the Nimbus-7 satellite in 1978 and continued through the operation of a TOMS on a Russian Meteor-3 satellite, until that instrument ceased functioning in December 1994.
Data from another TOMS instrument flying on the recently launched NASA TOMS-Earth Probe spacecraft complement the global ADEOS data by providing high-resolution imagery of atmospheric features related to urban pollution, biomass burning, forest fires, desert dust, and small volcanic eruptions, in addition to ozone measurements.
In recent years, the depleting effects of industrial chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) on ozone were demonstrated through the sudden appearance of the Antarctic ozone hole and other, more gradual losses in global ozone. The principal mission of TOMS/ADEOS is to monitor global ozone trends during the period when CFC-related depletion is predicted to be near its maximum.
"Stratospheric concentrations of chlorine from CFCs are expected to peak near the end of the century and then decline as a result of the Montreal Protocol," said Arlin Krueger, Principal Investigator for the TOMS/ADEOS mission. "TOMS/ADEOS will help us track this prediction. It also will continue to measure the concentrations of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere in the wake of volcanic eruptions, thus extending the existing database of more than 100 eruptions, including Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 and El Chichon in 1982."
The first TOMS/ADEOS image is available electronically at the following URL: http://jwocky.gsfc.nasa.gov/adtoms/adeos.html.