POLLUTION DETECTION IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE NEUQUEN CITY BY BIOMASS BURNING FROM 18th TO 22nd FEBRUARY 2015

The smoke caused by an important biomass burning in the province of Chubut, near Los Alerces National Park, in February 2015, was transported by the effect of winds to different areas of Patagonia. This paper presents the detection of this event over the city of Neuquen by the atmospheric monitoring station installed at the Neuquen International Airport by CITEDEF and operated by staff of the National Meteorological Service. The measurements made with the lidar system show the heights of the different aerosol layers and the AERONET/NASA (AErosol RObotic NETwork) solar photometer detected high values of aerosol optical thickness. The satellite images show that the smoke arrived in the city on February 18, staying in suspension for several days.