AIRS Satellite Feed
Total Column Ozone
This map shows AIRS observations of ozone. Ozone is contained mostly in the stratosphere, located approximately between 6 and 31 miles (10 and 50 kilometers) in altitude. The lowermost "shell" of Earth's atmosphere is the troposphere, while the stratosphere is the next highest shell. In the troposphere, the temperature tends to decrease with altitude, while in the stratosphere, the temperature increases with altitude. This makes for a cold boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere, which is called the tropopause. When the tropopause dips towards Earth (which can happen due to low pressure weather system), the void is filled in by stratospheric air. This will transport stratospheric ozone to lower altitudes, and the total amount of ozone will be higher in these regions.
Variations in the concentrations of ozone can be caused by changes in the tropopause height, Antarctic ozone depletion, and transport of ozone within the stratosphere.
