Atmosphere of Mars and southern hemispheres. Mars's temperature difference greatly influences the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, because warmer air can contain more moisture. This, in turn, affects the production of ozone-destroying hydrogen radicals. In early 2016, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) detected atomic oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars. This was the first time in forty years it was detected, the last time being the Viking and Mariner missions in the 1970s. Molecular nitrogen (N) is present in the atmosphere at 1.9%. Measurements by various robotic missions, and analyses of Martian meteorites, show that the atmosphere is enriched in
Dobson ozone spectrophotometer Dobson ozone spectrophotometer The Dobson spectrophotometer, also known as Dobsonmeter, Dobson spectrometer, or just Dobson is one of the earliest instruments used to measure atmospheric ozone. The Dobson spectrometer was invented in 1924 by Gordon Dobson. A history of the development of the instrument is here and an example of one of Dobson's own instruments remains on display in the University of Oxford Department of Physics. Dobson spectrophotometers can be used to measure both total column ozone and profiles of ozone in the atmosphere. Ozone is tri-atomic oxygen, O; ozone molecules absorb harmful UV light in the atmosphere before it