Global Monitoring Division
ESRL's Global Monitoring Division conducts sustained observations and
research related to global distributions, trends, sources and sinks of
atmospheric constituents that are capable of forcing change in the climate
of the Earth. This research will advance climate projections and provide
scientific policy-relevant, decision support information to enhance
society's ability to plan and respond.
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ESRL's Global Monitoring Division conducts research on the depletion
of the global stratospheric ozone layer and Antarctic ozone hole through
global surface-based monitoring of total-column ozone, ultraviolet radiation,
and ozone-depleting gases, including those regulated by the Montreal Protocol.
Continued surveillance is necessary in order to verify the expected
recovery of the ozone layer.
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ESRL's Global Monitoring Division monitors levels of air quality
elements such as tropospheric ozone, carbon monoxide and aerosol
particles in non-source regions which may be affected by long range
transport from distant sources of industrial pollution. This large-scale
transport affects baseline air quality which must be monitored
in order to determine the importance of regional sources that may impact
the environment and public health.
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Observatories
News and Highlights
October 25, 2016
Antarctic ozone hole about average in 2016
The hole in the Earth’s ozone layer that forms over Antarctica each September grew to about 8.9 million square miles in 2016 before starting to recover, according to scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who monitor the annual phenomenon.October 12, 2016
4 ways the ozone hole is linked to climate, and 1 way it isn’t
To mark the peak of ozone hole season, we’re highlighting four ways that climate and the ozone hole are related—and one important way they aren’t.October 6, 2016
Study finds fossil fuel methane emissions greater than previously estimated
Methane emissions from fossil fuel development around the world are up to 60 percent greater than estimated by previous studies, according to new research led by scientists from NOAA and CIRES.October 3, 2016
Carbon dioxide levels race past troubling milestone
Carbon dioxide levels in the Earth’s atmosphere passed a troubling milestone for good this summer, locking in levels of the heat-trapping gas not seen for millions of years. Every year, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) rises during winter and then falls slightly during the Northern Hemisphere’s growing season, as plants take up this greenhouse gas during photosynthesis. But this year, for the first time since before the Ice Age, CO2 will not fall below 400 ppm.September 30, 2016
Pacific Oxidants, Sulfur, Ice, Dehydration, and cONvection (POSIDON) Experiment
The NASA Pacific Oxidants, Sulfur, Ice, Dehydration, and cONvection (POSIDON) Experiment is a focused airborne science mission to study the ozone distribution, sulfur chemistry, very short-lived ozone depleting species (VSLS), cloud microphysics, and dehydration in the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere over the western Pacific.September 22, 2016
ESRL's Brad Hall wins Governor's Award for High Impact Research
Brad Hall, a research scientist in the Global Monitoring Division of NOAA/ESRL, has been named a winner of the 2016 Governor's Award for High-Impact Research for his work on improving existing techniques to make calibration standards and measurements of very low concentrations of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone-depleting gases like chlorofluorocarbons.September 19, 2016
NOAA “reels in” data on Utah’s winter ozone problem
A deep sea fishing rod is probably not the first tool that comes to mind when thinking about how to study air pollution in a remote inland desert, but it’s the heart of a new NOAA system that has given scientists a minute-by-minute look at how quickly the sun can convert oil and gas facility emissions to harmful ground-level ozone.August 2, 2016
2015 State of the Climate: Carbon Dioxide
Using measurements taken worldwide, scientists estimated that 2015’s global average carbon dioxide concentration was 399.4 parts per million (ppm), a new record high. At Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawai’i, where atmospheric carbon dioxide has been recorded longer than anywhere else in the world, the annual average carbon dioxide concentration was 400.8—also a new record, and a new milestone.July 28, 2016
Robert (Bob) D. Evans of ESRL Global Monitoring Division receives the prestigious IO3C Farman Award Nomination
Robert (Bob) D. Evans of ESRL Global Monitoring Division receives the prestigious IO3C Farman Award Nomination For Sustaining a Long-term Inter-calibrated World-wide Dobson Total Ozone Observing Network. The "Joseph C. Farman Award" is granted to one or more outstanding scientists who have created and used high-quality, long-term time series of atmospheric measurements related to the study of atmospheric ozone and/or surface ultraviolet radiation.Research Groups
Global Greenhouse Gas Reference Network
The GGGRN makes measurements of the spatial and temporal distributions of greenhouse gases and provides essential constraints to our understanding of the global carbon cycle.Halocarbons and other Trace Species
The HATS group quantifies the distributions and magnitudes of the sources and sinks for important ozone-depleting and greenhouse gases.Aerosols
The goals of this program are to characterize means, variability, and trends of climate-forcing properties of different types of aerosols.Global Radiation
Activities involve empirical and theoretical research of the Earth's surface radiation budget.Ozone and Water Vapor
Research on the nature and causes of the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer and the role of ozone and water vapor in forcing climate change.Observatory Operations
NOAA/ESRL operates staffed atmospheric baseline observatories from which numerous in situ and remote atmospheric and solar measurements are conducted.2017 Global Monitoring Annual Conference
December 19, 2016
NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), Global Monitoring Division, will hold the 45th Global Monitoring Annual Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 23rd and 24th, 2017, in Boulder, Colorado.
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