NASA researchers will join more than 350 scientists from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Poland, Russia and Switzerland this winter to measure ozone and other atmospheric gases using aircraft, large and small balloons, ground-based instruments and satellites.

Extremely low Arctic temperatures enabled polar stratospheric clouds to last longer during the 1999-2000 winter, causing additional ozone loss. Photo: NASA SOLVE Mission

This second SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE II) campaign will be conducted in close collaboration with the European Commission, sponsored by the VINTERSOL (Validation of International Satellites and Study of Ozone Loss) campaign. (SAGE III stands for the third Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment.) SOLVE will take place in Kiruna, Sweden, the site of the first international effort during the winter of 1999-2000.

"The primary goals of the joint SOLVE II-VINTERSOL campaign are to further understanding of ozone loss processes in the Arctic, and verify that satellite observations of the ozone layer are accurate from space," said Michael Kurylo, SOLVE II co-Program Scientist at NASA Headquarters, Washington.

Ozone studies are important because the ozone layer prevents the sun's harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching the Earth's surface. Ultraviolet radiation is a primary cause of skin cancer. Without protective upper-level ozone, there would be no life on Earth.

The Arctic campaign will run from Jan. 8 through Feb. 6, 2003. Flights of large balloons will augment the aircraft campaign, extending the measurement period from late November 2002 to late March 2003.

During the campaign of 1999-2000, record ozone losses of 70 percent were observed at altitudes around 18 kilometers (11 miles) and a great deal was learned about the processes leading to the rapid ozone loss in the Arctic. The SOLVE II campaign will add to that body of knowledge.

During the coming winter, scientists in SOLVE II-VINTERSOL also will work toward ensuring the accuracy of measurements from current Earth observing satellites. Scientists will take measurements of the stratosphere using a large suite of instruments aboard NASA's DC-8 aircraft and the European high-flying aircraft M55 Geo-physica, the German DLR Falcon. An instrument from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., will also fly on the M55 Geophysica. These planes will be based in Kiruna.

Research balloons, carrying payloads weighing up to several hundred pounds will be launched from Kiruna by teams from the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (France's National Center for Space Studies) and NASA. A network of over 30 stations of ground-based instruments will take atmospheric readings over a wide area, which will show how the chemical composition of Arctic stratosphere evolves through the whole winter.

VINTERSOL is a pan-European campaign involving researchers supported by the European Commission and national research agencies. NASA's SAGE III satellite instrument is being used to quantitatively assess ozone loss in the higher latitudes. SAGE III was launched onboard a Russian Meteor-3M spacecraft on December 10, 2001. The validation of the SAGE III observations is a principal goal of SOLVE II.

SOLVE II is sponsored by NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, dedicated to better understanding and protecting our home planet.