SATELLITES AND SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING | Measuring Ozone from Space – TOMS and SBUV

Space-based measurements of ozone on a global basis began with the Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument flown on Nimbus 4 in 1970. A series of similar instruments flown by National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have documented the development of an ozone hole over the Antarctic each October, and a drop in global ozone beginning in the 1980s. This important program for the monitoring of global ozone levels is expected to show the slow recovery of ozone over the coming decades as a result of international agreements to regulate the release of ozone-depleting chemicals.