Comparison of satellite measurements of ozone and ozone trends

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Abstract
Measurements of ozone retrieved from satellite instruments over the 1979–1991 period are compared. The instruments used are the total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS), the solar backscattered ultraviolet experiment (SBUV), and stratospheric aerosol and gas experiments (SAGE) I and II. Although there is good agreement between the absolute densities of ozone as measured by the various instruments, the long‐term changes (1979–1990) disagree sharply as a function of pressure and in the integrated ozone amount. In the upper stratosphere, SBUV trends are negative with maximum values of about −1.5%/year at high latitudes. Combined SAGE I and II trends are slightly positive in this region and peak near 0.5%/year at equatorial latitudes. In the lower stratosphere, SBUV trends reflect small decreases in ozone, generally less than −0.4%/year except at high southern latitudes where the trends reach values of approximately −1.5%/year. SAGE ozone trends exhibit large decreases particularly in the equatorial regions where decreases of 3−6%/year are seen at pressures between 60 and 90 mbar. At higher latitudes, SAGE trends are more comparable to SBUV trends in the lower stratosphere. Total ozone trends from TOMS and SBUV agree within their uncertainties. Near‐zero trends are indicated at low latitudes, and larger, negative trends (∼ −0.5%/year) are indicated near the poles. The SAGE column ozone trends depend upon the base level altitude of integration but do not exhibit a strong latitude dependence.