Satellite observations of the global distribution of stratospheric ozone

Observations of backscattered radiation from an Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (OGO) Satellite were used to determine the global distribution of ozone in different layers in the middle and upper stratosphere. The derived distributions show significant seasonal and geographic variations with important differences indicated between winter and summer hemisphere distributions. The OGO derived distributions are compared with other observations (rocket and satellite) and with photochemical calculations. It is suggested that the increased ozone mixing ratio in the high latitude winter hemisphere can be accounted for by transport processes up to about 40-45 km and by the effects of seasonal variations of NOX, HOX and temperature in the region above.