The discovery of the Antarctic depletion of the ozone layer in 1985, accompanied by a large increase in surface ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation, has raised serious questions about the continued protection of the earth’s living system from the harmful effects of UVB radiation. Some effects include DNA damage, eye cataracts, skin cancer and immune suppression in animals, as well as lower growth rates and depressed rates of leaf photosynthesis in plants.
These changes in UV radiation may open new reaction channels, especially for aldehydes, and this may change the chemical composition of the troposphere, by affecting the photodissociation rates of various important atmospheric gases involved in the photochemical reactions in the lower troposphere. That may also change the chemical mechanisms that are currently used in the tropospheric chemistry models.
On the other hand, some pollutants and other atmospheric parameters such as clouds and aerosols can affect the radiation levels reaching the surface of the earth by absorption and scattering.
In this work we have used data measured by two mobile stations during the campaign going from June to December 1995 in Córdoba City, Argentina. These data include UV radiation, total radiation, concentration levels of several atmospheric pollutants (O3, NOX, PM10, HC, etc) and also various meteorological parameters (temperature, pressure, relative humidity, wind speed, etc).
A statistical analysis has been carried out to describe the behavior of the main atmospheric pollutants in Córdoba City. We have analyzed the winter-summer variations of the main pollutants in rural and urban environments and we have also analyzed some days with high and low levels of pollutants to identify the meteorological conditions which determine them. The relations between radiation, tropospheric pollutant concentration levels and meteorological conditions have been analyzed at different monitoring sites.
In this work we have attempted to relate changes in stratospheric ozone (during the ozone depletion episode) and tropospheric pollutant concentration levels to changes in total and ultraviolet radiation to improve the understanding of the factors that control them.
