Mini-ozone hole over Río Gallegos in March 2025: characterization and impact on UV radiation
Submitted: 2025-10-01
|Accepted: 2025-11-28
|Published: 2026-01-13
Copyright (c) 2025 Cristian Laino-Baldini, Facundo Orte, Facundo Carmona, Eduardo Luccini, Gerardo Carbajal-Benítez, Elian Wolfram
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Keywords:
TROPOMI, SAOZ, MSR-2, UV Index, Erithemal dose
Supporting agencies:
Cristian Laino Baldini es estudiante del Doctorado en Ciencias Aplicadas, mención Ambiente y Salud (DCAAS, UNCPBA, Argentina). Los autores agradecen al OAPA (CITEDEF) y a LATMOS/CNRS por la operación y el mante-nimiento del instrumento SAOZ. Los datos del instrumento TROPOMI, a bordo del satélite Sentinel-5 Precursor, fueron proporcionados por el programa Copernicus y su uso se rige por el Legal Notice on the use of Copernicus Sentinel Data and Service Information.
Abstract:
The transient yet abrupt reduction of the ozone layer known as a “mini-ozone hole” can locally increase surface ultraviolet (UV) radiation, with potential implications for human health and ecosystems. In South America these phenomena have been sparsely documented, underscoring the need for detailed studies. Here we present the first characterization of a mini-ozone hole detected inMarch 2025 at the Observatorio Atmosférico de la Patagonia Austral (OAPA), Río Gallegos, Argentina (51.55° S, 69.23° W) and assess its surface radiative impact. We employed satellite observations Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI/Sentinel-5 Precursor) and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI/NASA EOS-Aura), ground-based measurements Système d’Analyse par Observation Zénithale spectrophotometer (SAOZ) and YES UVB-1 solar radiometer and a reanalysis product from Multi Sensor Reanalysis version 2 (MSR-2). Long-term climatologies for the study area were computed to identify anomalous total ozone column (TOC) events and to quantify the response of the UV index (UVI) and the daily erythemal dose. Event detection used a climatological threshold (μ−2σ) and was complemented by UVI radiative simulations generated with a parametric model. Results show a simultaneous decrease in TOC recorded by SAOZ (−16%) and TROPOMI (−19%) relativeto the climatological value on 24 March 2025, reaching percentiles below 1%. This reduction corresponded to a theoretical increase in the erythemal dose of +30% under clear-sky conditions compared with the climatology for that day; observed values showed a more moderate rise (+9%), attributable to attenuation by clouds, given that the troposphere above the site has a very low aerosol content. Satellite maps confirmed the presence and spatial evolution of the mini-ozone hole over southern South America. This study demonstrates the value of integrated satellite–ground monitoring for detecting extreme ozone events at subpolar latitudes. The proposed methodology is transferable to other regions and contributes to improved understanding of the risks associated with acute UV exposure episodes.
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