INSTALLING A HIGH-ALTITUDE WEATHER STATION NETWORK IN THE ARGENTINEAN ANDES

CRESPO SEBASTIAN; VILLALBA RICARDO

Mendoza

Congreso; Congremet XI; 2012

Centro Argentino de Meteorólogos

There are many serious gaps regarding the monitoring and understanding of the climate of the Andes in southern South America. Presently there are very few operational high elevation stations along this extensive mountain range, and records covering more than two or three decades are extremely scarce, outdated, and often incomplete. The lack of meteorological information from high elevation sites is a major limitation for studying the past, present and future impacts of climate changes on water resources and glaciers in this region. The Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA) has initiated a project whose main goals are to install a series of permanent high-altitude weather stations along the Andes and to improve our understanding of the nation´s mountain climates for local and regional assessments. The network consists of twelve stations from Salta province in the north (22°S) down to Tierra del Fuego province in the southern tip of South America (54°S) that will be monitored and maintained in partnership with the Subsecretaría de Recursos Hídricos (SRH). Each station will be equipped with sensors of wind speed and direction, atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, rain gauge, snow pillow and total precipitation.Description of sites?Stations in the Northern portion of the Argentinean Andes: Three stations: Los Toldos , Tuc tuca and Río Jaya will be installed in the near future in the Desert Andes. Their elevations range from 1850 to 4200 m and will be crucial for understanding climate variations along this diverse and poorly understood mountainous region. The fourth weather station has already been installed nearby the Aguas Negras International Pass, in the Desert Andes of the San Juan province, at 4500 m. ?Stations in the Central Andes: In this portion of the Argentinean Andes there are two main mountain ranges with different climate regimes: Cordillera Principal and Cordillera Frontal. In the Cordillera Principal we installed the "Plaza de Mulas" weather station at 4370 m of elevation in the Aconcagua mount Provincial Park, with a hydrometric gauge in front of the ?Horcones Superior Glacier? and a few km to the south of Cerro Aconcagua, the ?Las Cuevas? and ?Cristo Redentor? weather stations have already been in the area. In the Cordillera Frontal the "Vallecitos" weather station is also already installed together with a hydrometric gauge in front of the "El Salto Rock Glacier.?Stations in the North Patagonian Andes: There will be two stations installed in northern Patagonia, the ?Pampa Linda? and ?La Almohadilla?, both nearby ?Monte Tronador? (3478m) in the Río Negro province.?Stations in the South Patagonian Andes: Four stations will be installed in this region. The ?Perito Moreno? weather station in the Perito Moreno National Park, nearby Nansen Lake; the ?Chaltén? weather station in the Chaltén village , and another station located on the eastern margin of the South Patagonian Icefield near Glaciar Túnel. Further south, in the Tierra del Fuego province, another weather station will be installed at ?Paso Garibaldi?.