During the past decade (1977)(1978)(1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986) ozone has been measured on board various research vessels between 83°N and 76 ° S. The latitudinal distribution shows nearly twice as high an ozone concentration in the Northern Hemisphere (30 ppb) as compared to the Southern Hemisphere (15 ppb). North of 70"N the concentration rapidly drops to low values (17 ppb). In the ITCZ we frequently observed a pronounced secondary maximum which indicates that tropospheric-stratospheric exchange may be induced by deep convection. During other occasions, ozone concentrations below 10 ppb were observed in the ITCZ. Secondary maxima are also found in each hemisphere, indicating the latitudes in which stratospheric-tropospheric exchange occurs. One such pronounced maximum is found between 60 and 65 ° N. A comparable counterpart does not, however, occur in the respective southern latitudes.The observations, although incomplete, allow for conclusions with respect to seasonal cycles, at least in some of the latitudes or for some part of the year. In the tropics differences between continental and maritime yearly cycles are found. In mid to high northern latitudes, a sharp maximum is found which extends to the summer months over continental European sites. In the respective southern latitudes, such a spring maximum is only indicated.Comparison with occasionally concurrent Kr 85 measurements by other groups allows for the conclusion that in some cases photochemically produced ozone in polluted air masses is seen over the Atlantic ocean.