Global Study of Stratospheric Ozone Total Column using data from TOMS

Abstract

Daily records on a column of ozone, from the NASA program, TOMS (Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer) between November 1978 and May 2006 were used to assess the nature of the interannual variations of the ozone layer in twelve discrete latitudes a degree wide, symmetrical shape chosen in both hemispheres of the Earth. Treatment of the data shows the trends of the ozone column for each of these selected latitudes. Higher values of stratospheric ozone column observed in the midlatitudes and in the northern hemisphere. The overall performance shows that the destruction of ozone layer depends on the latitude. There is also a significant attenuation in the late 1990’s, although it is clear that this is only an attenuation rather than a full recovery, such attenuation had already been reported in the literature but for zonal mean values. The methodology used to study global trends of the ozone layer, using narrow bands of latitude, be original and is particularly useful for quantitative assessments to academic purposes.