Solar Mesosphere Explorer ultraviolet Spectrometer Measurements of ozone in the 1.0-0.1 mbar region

The ozone density of the earth's mesosphere in the 1.0-0.1 mbar (48 to 70 km) region has been measured at sunlit latitudes for the period from December 1981 until the present by an ultraviolet spectrometer on the Solar Mesosphere Explorer satellite. Results for 1982 are reported. The ozone mixing ratios are found to be highly variable in time and place, with maxima occurring in the winter hemispheres. The results show complex time variations at all pressure levels, with annual and semiannual variations apparent at most pressures and latitudes. A relative maximum occurs in July at the equator.