A TOVS Ozone Picture of the 1994 Antarctic Ozone Hole

This image was generated from approximately 1,000 individual TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) ozone measurements by the NOAA 12 satellite on October 17, 1994. Each dot represents one observation. The purple and violet regions represent the Antarctic Ozone Hole. TOVS ozone measurements are not generally feasible over the cold Antarctic Plateau, or over cold clouds; these areas are in gray. TOVS permits both daytime and nighttime satellite measurements of the Earth's ozone shield on a real-time basis. The High resolution InfraRed Spectrometer (HIRS) 9.7 micrometer channel is particularly sensitive to artificial kinds of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) induced ozone depletions that occur in the lower stratosphere. With this tool, scientists can monitor the formation and evolution of this important atmospheric feature.