Definition
Stratosphere. The region of the atmosphere extending from about 13 to 50 km altitude.
Ozone. A naturally occurring trace gas in Earth’s atmosphere. An ozone molecule consists of three atoms of oxygen bound together in a triangular arrangement.
Introduction
The vast majority of ozone (about 90 %) resides in the stratosphere, where it plays a crucial role in protecting life on Earth from harmful solar ultraviolet radiation. Most of the remaining ozone is found in the troposphere, the part of the atmosphere between the surface and the stratosphere and the region in which most clouds and weather occur. Tropospheric ozone is an important pollutant and a greenhouse gas. In addition to its direct influence on air quality, tropospheric ozone helps to regulate the ability of the atmosphere to “cleanse” itself of many other pollutants. Anthropogenic (human-induced) increases in ozone at ground level, where it is a key component of photochemical smog, can have very deleterious effects....
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Acknowledgment
This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the NASA.
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Santee, M. (2014). Stratospheric Ozone. In: Njoku, E.G. (eds) Encyclopedia of Remote Sensing. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36699-9_178
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