Northern hemisphere total ozone values from 1989–1993 determined with the NOAA‐11 Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV/2) instrument

Abstract

Determinations of global total ozone amounts have been made from recently reprocessed measurements with the SBUV/2 on the NOAA‐11 environmental satellite since January 1989. This data set employs a new algorithm and an updated calibration. Comparisons with total ozone amounts derived from a significant subset of the global network of Dobson spectrophotometers shows a 0.3% bias between the satellite and ground measurements for the period January 1989–May 1993. Comparisons with the data from individual stations exhibit differing degrees of agreement which could be due to the matchup procedures and also to the uncertainties in the Dobson data. The SBUV/2 data set discussed here traces the Northern Hemisphere total ozone from 1989 to the present, showing a marked decrease from the average of those years starting in the summer of 1992 and continuing into 1993, with an apparent returning to more normal levels in late 1993.