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Why Aura?

Earth’s ozone shield protects all life.

Stratospheric ozone has decreased 3% globally between 1980 and 2000 and thins by 50% over Antarctica in winter and spring. Depletion of the ozone layer allows more ultraviolet radiation to reach the surface. Increases in UV radiation is known to have harmful effects on living things. The Montreal Protocol and its amendments have banned the use of ozone destroying chemicals and the rate of ozone depletion seems to have slowed.

Earth’s tropospheric composition is fundamental to public health and ecosystems.

The atmosphere has no political boundaries; tropospheric constituents moves great distances across oceans and continents. The quality of air has degraded over certain parts of the world and has become a health issue. Severe pollution episodes increase mortality.

Aura is designed to answer questions about changes in our life-sustaining atmosphere.

Aura’s four instruments study the atmosphere’s chemistry and dynamics. Aura’s measurements will enable us to investigate questions about ozone trends, air quality changes and their linkage to climate change.

Aura’s measurements will provide accurate data for predictive models and provide useful information for local and national agency decision support systems.

Aura science

Aura's ozone

Aura's instruments are closely monitoring ozone.

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Visualization of Earth as seen from the south pole over Antarctica. Data is overlayed, showing the level of ozone in the area. Centered over Antarctica is a red and orange oval, while the rest of the visualization shows dark and light blues.
This map shows the size and shape of the ozone hole over the South Pole on Sept. 21, 2023, the day of its maximum extent that year, as calculated by the NASA Ozone Watch team. Moderate ozone losses (orange) are visible amid widespread areas of more potent ozone losses (red).
NASA Earth Observatory
Aura science

Monitoring tropospheric composition

Tropospheric constituents are a significant threat to human health and our environment. Instruments on NASA satellites, along with airborne and ground-based sensors, are constantly collecting data on major pollutants in our atmosphere.

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A map of the U.S. showing average nitrogen dioxide concentrations for 2022. The data is color-coded. Higher concentrations are in red and lower concentrations in blue.
This map shows average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide for 2022 over the U.S., as detected by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument on NASA’s Aura satellite. Higher concentrations are in red and purple. Lower concentrations are in blue.
NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio