Paula Cleggett-Haleim

Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

January 19, 1993
(Phone: 202/385-0885)

Dolores Beasley
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
(301) 286-2806

Release: 93-13

1992 ANTARCTIC OZONE DEPLETION AS SEVERE AS ANY PREVIOUS YEAR

Continuing observations by the Nimbus-7 and Meteor-3 Total

Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) instruments have confirmed
that the depletion of stratospheric ozone over Antarctica in
1992 was as severe as any previous year.

In 1992, the "ozone hole" developed 1 to 2 weeks earlier than

prior years. NASA scientists at Goddard Space Flight Center,
Greenbelt, Md., also have confirmed that on Sept. 23, 1992, the
Antarctic ozone hole was the largest on record.

On that date, the surface area of the ozone hole reached 8.9
million square miles (24.35 million square kilometers), but fell
off to less than 7.7 million square miles (20 million square
kilometers) in early October. For comparison, the surface area
of the North American continent is 9.4 million square miles.

This past year's Antarctic ozone depletion was comparable to

the 1990 ozone depletion in duration and depth, NASA scientists
report. The 1992 ozone hole breakup began in early December,
later than the normal mid-to-late November break-up. Late
break-ups also occurred in 1987 and 1990.

The hole, or area of ozone depletion, was still present as

late as Nov. 30, 1992, when levels were still below 220 Dobson
Units and the size was 1.7 million square miles (4.5 million
square kilometers).

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TOMS measured a record low of 110 Dobson Units on Oct.

6,1991. The lowest value reached in 1992, 124 Dobson Units,
occurred on Sept. 27. However, this value is uncertain because
balloon measurements found that ozone in the lowest part of the
stratosphere was unusually low in 1992. It is possible that the
actual value could have been as low as in 1991.

The "ozone hole" is a large area of intense ozone depletion,

below 220 Dobson units, over the Antarctic continent that
typically occurs between late August and early October and
typically breaks up in mid-November. One hundred Dobson Units
equals a layer of gas one millimeter thick at the surface.
Scientists have shown that man-made chlorine is the primary
cause of ozone hole formation.

The 1992 Antarctic ozone depletion also may have been

affected by the continued presence of sulfuric acid droplets in
the upper atmosphere created by the June 1991 eruption of Mount
Pinatubo in the Philippines.

This data from the TOMS instrument onboard NASA's Nimbus-7

satellite is consistent with that of the TOMS onboard the
Russian Meteor-3 satellite launched in August 1991. Both TOMS
instruments are managed by Goddard for NASA's Office of Space
Science and Applications, Washington, D.C.
-end-

Editors Note: Two photographs are available to media

representatives through NASA's Broadcast and Imaging Branch,
202/358-1900. The photo numbers are:

B&W Color
93-H-6 93-HC-5
93-H-7 93-HC-6