News Release

Clouds Foretell Biggest Ozone Hole Ever

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Office of Naval Research

Naval researchers report that unusually extensive stratospheric clouds over the South Pole set the stage for the near-record-size hole in Antarctica's ozone layer reported earlier this year by NASA and NOAA scientists.

Naval researchers measured the polar stratospheric clouds from their space-based Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement instrument, or POAM III. Supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, and developed by the Naval Research Laboratory, POAM III is the only satellite instrument providing continuous coverage of the vertical distribution of ozone and clouds in the polar stratosphere. POAM III measurements will provide valuable information about how Earth's ozone layer is responding to possible changes in global temperature, and the expected decrease in atmospheric chlorine as a result of new restrictions on CFC emissions.

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