IGP: pioneer in ozone layer measurements in Peru

Nota de prensa
On the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, let's learn about the history of the first measurements made in the country by the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP).

Fotos: IGP

Unidad Funcional de Comunicaciones

16 de September de 2022 - 9:35 a. m.

This year, under the slogan "Global cooperation to protect life on Earth", we commemorate 35 years since the signing of the Montreal Protocol, a supranational agreement that has led to a significant reduction in the emission of chemical substances that damage the ozone layer.
 
In our country, the Geophysical Institute of Peru (IGP), an agency under the Ministry of Environment, began in February 1964 the first measurements of the ozone layer thanks to the support of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States). One of the first people involved in this work was Isidoro Samaniego De La Cruz, a technical assistant who carried out this work since 1972, for about 20 years, at the Geophysical Observatory of Huancayo of the IGP.
 
At the age of 23, Don Isidoro began to operate the Dobson spectrophotometer, equipment used to study the ozone layer. "The spectrophotometer had inside it a thermometer, a meterammeter and a thermoscope, the latter had to be calibrated according to solar incidence and temperature. The instrument captured only ultraviolet (UV) radiation at the times NOAA recommended: 10 a.m., 12 m., and 2 p.m.," he recalls.
 
New instrumentation in cooperation with NASA
 
Currently, the IGP continues measuring the ozone layer at the Huancayo Geophysical Observatory with a sun photometer, installed in cooperation with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) of the U.S. This modern instrument is part of the network of atmospheric aerosol studies of the Aeronet program of the renowned U.S. space agency.
 
Luis Suarez, scientific researcher at the IGP, points out that the Andean region has the highest ultraviolet radiation values in the world, so ozone layer measurements at the Huancayo Geophysical Observatory are an important part of a regular atmospheric monitoring program.
 
In this way, the IGP contributes to the global cooperation to protect life on Earth by doing "Science to protect us, science to advance".