Antarctic ozone September 2018

The animation shows measurements of ozone for 1–13 September 2018 over Antarctica from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, showing the ozone hole over the South Pole. Sentinel-5P measurements are now being included in ESA’s Climate Change Initiative to extend existing ozone records. Prior to Sentinel-5P, ozone measurements came from instruments carried on satellites such as ERS-2 and Envisat. The record goes back more than 20 years.

Launched in October 2017, Sentinel-5P is the first Copernicus mission dedicated to monitoring our atmosphere. The satellite carries the state-of-the-art Tropomi instrument to map a multitude of trace gases that affect the air we breathe and our climate. As well as measuring ozone, this new mission also measures gases such as nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, sulphur dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide, and aerosols.