Global and regional distributions and variations of the total column ozone are studied based on the total column ozone (TCO) data during the period from 1979 to 2014 obtained with different space-borne instruments including TOMS (the total ozone mapping spectrometer) series, OMI (the ozone monitoring instrument) and TOU (the total ozone unit) series. The distributions and variations of the total column ozone over the globe and some key regions are considered. The TCO differences of distributions and variations (DAV) between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere are analyzed and the possible impact factors on the TCO DAV are identified. Special attentions are focused on the ozone variations in China, the Tibetan Plateau and the Polar regions. The monitoring of the Antarctic ozone hole and the Arctic ozone is also conducted using the FY-3 satellite data. It is shown that the TCO DAV sees a very nonuniform nature in the middle and high latitudes and in polar regions. The ozone loss over the polar regions continues to exist. In the Tibetan Plateau, the TCO variation is larger than in other regions of the same latitude. The mechanism of the ozone variation over the Tibetan Plateau is complicated.

total column ozone  /  antarctic ozone hole  /  arctic ozone  /  Tibetan Plateau