Belgium’s role in protecting the ozone layer – from space to science

Today is the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer (38 years ago the Montreal Protocol was signed), a good moment to highlight Belgium’s contributions to monitoring one of Earth’s most critical shields.

Belgium may be small, but it has played a significant role in ozone research:

Satellite missions:

1) The Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB) has been central in developing and operating ozone monitoring instruments.

2) The GOME spectrometer (1995, ERS-2) and SCIAMACHY (2002–2012, Envisat) both had Belgian involvement in data processing.

3) Belgium helps process and analyse the data of TROPOMI on Sentinel-5P, which remains one of the most advanced instruments for global ozone and air quality monitoring.

4) Belgium is leading the upcoming ALTIUS mission (Atmospheric Limb Tracker for Investigation of the Upcoming Stratosphere), an ESA satellite set to launch in 2027, designed specifically for high-resolution ozone profile measurements. The satelite is btw mostly funded by and build in Belgium by local industrial partners like Redwire, OIP and SpaceBel. It was originally proposed by BIRA-IASB, who are still responsible for the scientific development regarding the satelite.

Ground-based monitoring

1) Belgian scientists helped pioneer DOAS (Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy), now a standard technique worldwide for tracking ozone and related gases.

2) Uccle Observatory maintains one of the world’s longest continuous ozone measurement series, with ozone profiles since 1971 and total ozone even earlier.

** Science and policy impact**

1) Belgian data feeds into the Montreal Protocol assessments that guide global ozone protection policy.

2) Belgium contributes to CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), producing real-time ozone hole monitoring maps used internationally.

In short, while many associate ozone research with larger spacefaring nations, Belgium has been quietly at the forefront of monitoring ozone depletion and recovery, ensuring that the Montreal Protocol’s success is underpinned by solid science.