The remote sensing spectro-photometer GOME installed on board of the polar orbiting ESA satellite ERS-2 collects nadir scattered sunlight. The spectral intensity in the UV-VIS-region is measured and various atmospheric trace gases can be identified in the UV-spectra. In this work BrO and NO2 have been followed. They are globally present and absolute column absorptions are obtained for BrO by comparison with direct sun light not having passed through the atmosphere. Average vertical columns of (3.1¿1)¿1013 molec/cm2 BrO are found in the equatorial region around noon. The omnipresence of BrO has some bearing on the global ozone depletion. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union