2007 EARTH SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID | Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| NASA CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL | G07-057 | 9/07/07 | 05:57 | September 16, 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Montreal Protocol, the landmark international treaty to protect the stratospheric ozone layer. NASA has been monitoring the status of the ozone layer through satellite observations since the 1970s, beginning with the TOMS sensors on the Nimbus satellites and now with the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA's Aura satellite. Data collected by these instruments have been instrumental in shaping public policy and international perspectives on the ozone layer.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): Antarctic Ozone Hole: Annual Maximum Thinning (1979-2006) - This animation shows the annual maximum thinning of ozone from 1979 through 2006. The ozone hole is primarily caused by human-produced chemicals, but the temperature of the Antarctic stratosphere varies the severity of the ozone hole from year to year.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (2): Antarctic Ozone Hole Snapshot - September 4, 2007 - This image shows the Antarctic ozone hole on September 4, 2007, just weeks before the annual maximum thinning. A daily snapshot of the Antarctic ozone hole can be found on NASA's Ozone Resource Page.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (3): Chemistry Animations: Ozone Formation and Destruction - Intense ultraviolet radiation in the upper atmosphere produces ozone. The radiation breaks typical oxygen molecules into free oxygen atoms. Ozone is created when a free oxygen atom joins with an oxygen molecule to form a molecule of ozone. Chemical reactions involving such familiar compounds as chlorine, bromine, nitrogen, and hydrogen can destroy ozone. These animations illustrate the chemistry behind formation and destruction of ozone.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (4): Aura and TOMS: NASA's Tools for Measuring the Ozone Layer - In addition to sub-orbital measurements, NASA monitors stratospheric ozone with state-of-the-art satellite technology. Launched in 2004, the Aura satellite uses four instruments to examine the atmosphere, most notably the Ozone Monitoring Instrument. Prior to the Aura satellite, NASA monitored ozone with the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS). The data collected by the TOMS instrument established the geographical extent of the "ozone hole" over the Antarctic, and monitored its year-to-year evolution.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (5): New Perspectives on the Ozone Hole - Using NASA's data visualization technology, we can examine the Antarctic ozone hole from a variety of perspectives. The following visualizations show a couple of unique views of the ozone hole event.
Courtesy: NASA
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