Date Time Physicist from USA studies ozone in Tomsk Dr. Slava Kokoouline, professor at the University of Central Florida (USA), came to TSU to work on the project “Ozone: radiative properties at the dissociation threshold, formation, relaxation and fragmentation processes; spectroscopic support for non-LTE models of satellite measurements”. The research is supported by the Russian Science Fund. An international research team (Russia, USA, France, Hungary) is investigating the formation and decay of ozone and its characteristics and properties at the molecular level when interacting with radiation. The results will help monitor the condition of the ozone layer. “There are several methods to monitor and explore the ozone layer from the Earth: from an airplane or an air balloon, or a satellite. One of the methods is analyzing absorbed or reflected emissions from the Sun or a signal from the Earth’s surface. For example, to know the quantity and density of the layer, we need to know the properties of ozone in relation to that kind of emission. It can be in the ultraviolet or infrared part of the spectrum. We need to know the properties of ozone in relation to that and how it behaves when colliding with other molecules to understand and, perhaps, control how ozone is formed and what it reacts with. It is necessary to understand its evolution,” says Dr. Slava Kokooulin.