A statistical analysis of tropopause height and temperature as observed at 3 Argentine radiosonde stations

.Understanding the behaviour of the tropopause is important both to climate change and variability studies as well as for understanding the changes that have taken place in the ozone layer. One of the main sources of information about the tropopause are the observations from the upper-air network., i.e. radiosondes. Tropospause observations from radiosondes are also relevant for the validation of reanalysis products. The Southern Hemisphere is particularly lacking in upper air observations due to the large oceanic expanses and scarce population, and hence it is particularly relevant to analyse the data available. In this study data from 3 Argentine stations, Resistencia, Ezeiza and Comodoro Rivadavia, covering the subtropics and midlatitudes, in a narrow longitudinal band east of the Andes (~60W), are statistically analyzed. Tropopause height and temperature for the period 1970-1993 are studied in order to identify their variability (interseasonal and interannual) as well as the possible trends. These results are discussed together with the advantages and difficulties inherent to radiosonde information