Today marks the end of an international mission, the Equatorial Large Balloon Campaign (Campanha de Grandes Balões na Região Equatorial) (ELBC), which has been collecting atmospheric data in Brazil.
The material has been gathered specifically on the ozone layer, from the city of Timon, in the state of Maranhão, which lies very close to the equator.
Since June 1st, a team of scientists from Brazil, France, Italy and Germany have been launching balloons into the stratosphere as part of studies of climate change.
Similar missions take place with greater frequency in more southern parts of Latin America, including Brazil, which are closer to the hole in the ozone layer.
However, according to Elisete Rinke dos Santos, the mission coordinator, the studies from Timon are especially important due to the expansion of the hole in the ozone layer, which get closer to the equator all the time, and the fact that few studies have been made near the equator.
The data collected will be analyzed in laboratories in all the participating countries.
ABr – www.radiobras.gov.br