Royal Belgian Institute for Space AeronomyPhysics and chemistry of the atmosphere of the Earth and other planets, and of outer space.
Stratospheric ozone
The number of molecules of gases that you will find in one cubic meter decreases as you go up from the surface to 100 km altitude.
1992 mission with experiments for understanding the interaction between the sun and the Earth's atmosphere. Belgian astronaut Dirk Frimout flew along.
For most measurements of atmospheric ingredients, the same technique is used: the DOAS method.
Which phenomenon causes the sky on our planet to turn blue? And why at sunset red or orange?
Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation can cause significant damage to living organisms: sunburn, eye cataracts, accelerated skin aging, skin cancer,...
Small droplets, injected in the atmosphere during volcanic eruptions, play an important role in the physico chemistry of the stratosphere.
The presence of ozone in the stratosphere causes temperature in the stratosphere to rise with altitude.
When temperatures fall below -80° C stratospheric particles turn into microscopic ice crystals that play an important role in ozone destruction.
Ozone in the stratosphere absorbs dangerous UV radiation to protect us, while ozone in the troposphere is poisonous substance.
Since our natural protection against UV was threatened, the use of ozone destructing chemical substances is regulated in an international agreement.
Ozone destruction, leading to the ozone hole over Antarctica, becomes faster as temperature falls and the area gets isolated.
From ground to space each layer is characterized by specific temperatures: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere
A multidisciplinary science based on observations of the atmospherical environment (terrestrial and extraterrestrial).
