Finally, a new season at Princess Elisabeth has started

 Yesterday, 26 November, the first team of the Belgian Antarctic research expedition (BELARE) has arrived at Princess Elisabeth station. They will now by busy to put the station into full operational state. We will keep you updated on the progress and on the activities of our research there. This season, two colleagues are there: Preben Van Overmeiren of Ghent University and Alexis Merlaud of the Belgian Institute of Space Aeronomy. They will work on the CHASE and CLIMB projects and will also maintain the existing instrumentation of the atmospheric observatory.

Ozone hole over Antarctica

 This year's ozone hole over the South Pole region reaches immense dimensions. The minimum temperature at 50 hPa is still below -75°C, below the level when polar stratospheric clouds can form. This is unique for this time of the year. Also, the absolute minimum of the total ozone column is still below the record years. And forecasts are not showing rapid improvements. It means that levels of UV radiation reaching the surface in these southern regions are very high and respective protective measures are needed. U-to date information can be found on the website of the Copernics Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS) for the ozone layer monitoring. 

ozone hole area as by 18/11/2020 - copernicusECMWF