The ozone layer is not an even protective blanket. Above the northern Bay of Bengal, an Indian research team found a particularly ozone-rich zone at roughly 21 to 23 kilometres altitude.
The layer persisted for more than a day and was unusual in this form over eastern India. To verify it, researchers combined weather balloons, a nationwide radar network, satellite data and atmospheric models.
Their explanation is that ozone-rich air arrived from the side and was then compressed by sinking air: a small weather story high above the sea, visible only through a whole chorus of instruments.
In brief
High-altitude ozone is important because it absorbs ultraviolet sunlight. Its distribution is not the same everywhere and can shift with air currents.
Why it matters
The team did not find the layer with one device but with balloons, radar, satellite data and models. That combination makes the finding more robust.
A closer look
This was a local, temporary stratospheric layer, not a new permanent state of the whole ozone layer. Researchers explain it through sideways transport and sinking air.
More facts
Ozone normally peaks at about 25 to 30 kilometres altitude; this unusual layer lay lower, at 21 to 23 kilometres. It lasted more than a day and was measurable day and night, pointing to air transport rather than sunlight as the main cause.
How we know
This story is based on a publicly available original source.
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