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Images, data, and information for atmospheric ozone

View all of the Arctic Hemisphere monthly-mean maps of total ozone for August. Satellite instruments monitor the ozone layer, and we use their data to create the images that depict the amount of ozone.

Click any map image to bring up a new page with a high-resolution map.

Animations

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Data source

The data for 1979–1993 are from the TOMS instrument on the NASA/NOAA Nimbus-7 satellite.

The data for 1994 are from the TOMS instrument on the Soviet-built Meteor-3 satellite.

The data for 1997–2004 are from the NASA Earth Probe TOMS satellite.

The data for 2005–2016 are from the OMI instrument (KNMI / NASA) onboard the Aura satellite. They are the OMTO3d (Global Ozone Data) data.

The data for 2017–2018 are from the OMPS instrument onboard the Suomi NPP satellite.

Missing areas (bad orbits and polar night) are filled using assimilated ozone data from the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA and Version 2 (MERRA-2) assimilations, produced by the Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System (GEOS DAS). MERRA and MERRA-2 use a version of the GEOS model with the Gridpoint Statistical Interpolation (GSI) atmospheric analysis developed jointly with NOAA/NCEP/EMC. Data are also filled using the GEOS FP data are produced by the Goddard Earth Observing System data assimilation system (DAS). The GEOS FP system integrates forefront versions of the GEOS atmospheric general circulation model with advanced data assimilation techniques, using a broad range of satellite observations.

Bulk access

The following links will provide you with bulk access to the images, animations, and raw satellite data.

August

Palette relating map colors to ozone values

The false-color view of the monthly-averaged total ozone over the Arctic pole. The blue and purple colors are where there is the least ozone, and the yellows and reds are where there is more ozone.

Map archives

Monthly averages (1979–current)

Daily

  • 1995
  • January
  • February
  • March
  • April
  • May
  • June
  • July
  • August
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December