GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF ATMOSPHERIC BROMINE-MONOXIDE FROM GOME ON EARTH OBSERVING SATELLITE ERS-2

The remote sensing spectro-photometer GOME installed on board of the p olar orbiting ESA satellite ERS-2 collects nadir scattered sunlight. T he spectral intensity in the UV-VIS-region is measured and various atm ospheric trace gases can be identified in the W-spectra. In this work BrO and NO2 have been followed. They are globally present and absolute column absorptions are obtained for BrO by comparison with direct sun light not having passed through the atmosphere. Average vertical colu mns of (3.1 +/- 1) x 10(13) molec/cm(2) BrO are found in the equatoria l region around noon. The omnipresence of BrO has some bearing on the global ozone depletion.