Ecuador’s commitment to monitor the Ozone layer
Ecuador authorities and researchers are committed to actively participate in monitoring the ozone layer. In 2016, the United Nation’s Ozone Secretary summoned Ecuador to submit proposals to improve the science behind the ozone layer under the Trust Fund of the Vienna Convention. Maria Cazorla, director of the Atmospheric Measurement Station at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (EMA USFQ by its Spanish acronym), submitted, through the ecuadorian government, a proposal for the ECHOz (Ecuadorian Highland Ozonesonde) Project. The ECHOz Project proposal focused on continuing the in situ monitoring of the ozone layer at a high altitude site (2400 masl) over the Ecuadorian Andes using ozonesondes.
About two years later on September 2018, the ECHOz project was accepted for funding. The project acceptance came just before Ecuador hosted the 30th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (MOP30) on November 5-9, 2018 in Quito. Representatives from more than 170 countries attended this Ozone-relevant event. Also, parallel to the MOP30, María Cazorla organized the event “Ecuador’s efforts to improve ozone and climate science: observations in the Galapagos, the Andes, and the Amazon”, where scientists from Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) and Instituto Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología (INAMHI) participated.
From left to right: Edgar Herrera (EMA engineer), David Fahey, Milene Muñoz (EMA engineer), Bonflis Safari, Paul Newman, María Cazorla (EMA director), and Steve Montzka. This picture is taken at the rooftop of USFQ's Engineering Building where EMA is located.
You can learn more about EMA USFQ, ECHOz and other exciting projects here. Also, if you were at the 2018 American Geophysical Union (AGU) Meeting last Dec 10-14, we hope you stopped by at the ECHOz poster and presentation to learn more about this project!
