Going, going, gone: A NOAA weather balloon floats into the pre-dawn Antarctic sky over the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in this time-lapse photograph taken September 15, 2017. The balloon was carrying an ozonesonde -- instrument to measure ozone during NOAA's annual monitoring of the Antarctic ozone hole. Rising emissions of a strictly regulated chemical threatens recovery of the ozone hole, according to new NOAA research published in the journal Nature, May 16, 2018. (Image credit: Christian Krueger/IceCube)
Going, going, gone: A NOAA weather balloon floats into the pre-dawn Antarctic sky over the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in this time-lapse photograph taken September 15.
The return of the sun over Antarctica in September brings seasonal conditions that destroys the ozone layer protecting Earth from the sun's ultraviolet rays.
During winter months, when ozone is stable, field scientists with NOAA and our partner CIRES launch weather balloons like this one to measure this upper-atmosphere gas every nine days. During the height of ozone depletion season, balloons go up every three days to allow researchers to gather data more frequently. Luckily, conditions change by September’s end, and the ozone layer starts to recover.
More: You can view a live South Pole webcam offsite link as well as follow the 2016 ozone depletion research season on the CIRES website offsite link.
