Sun ID: 2989

The 2003 Antarctic Ozone Hole

Visualizations by Greg Shirah Released on September 7, 2004

TOMS provides dramatic visual evidence of the annual growth and decay of the Antarctic ozone hole. The ozone losses over Antarctica result from reactions with the products of man-made chlorine and bromine compounds. Because of the tilt of the Earth's axis, continuous darkness falls at the South Pole from March 21 to September 21. The dark region in the middle of the July 1 total ozone picture is polar night, where TOMS cannot make measurements. Ozone losses are in blue. Beginning in August, returning sunlight reaches the edges of Antarctica providing chlorine and bromine compounds with energy to rapidly destroy ozone. By mid September, the ozone loss peaks, creating an ozone hole over Antarctic.
or more information see http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2003/1208toms.html

For More Information

http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/2003/1208toms.html

Visualization Credits

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Lead Animator
Paul Newman (NASA/GSFC): Scientist

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/2989

Data Used:

Earth Probe/TOMS/Ozone

2003/07/01, 2003/08/31, 2003/09/29, 2003/11/03

http://toms.gsfc.nasa.gov/eptoms/ep.html

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Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Dates of Data Used:
2003/07/01, 2003/08/31, 2003/09/29, 2003/11/03

This item is part of this series:
Ozone

Keywords:
SVS >> Antarctic
DLESE >> Atmospheric science
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Atmosphere >> Atmospheric Chemistry/Oxygen Compounds >> Ozone
SVS >> For Educators
SVS >> Earth >> Texas >> Houston
SVS >> Stratospheric Ozone >> Distribution
SVS >> Atmospheric Science
NASA Science >> Sun

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0