CAMPAÑA DE MEDICIONES ATMOSFÉRICAS EN LOS ANDES BOLIVIANOS REALIZADA POR EQUIPO ESTUDIANTIL BOLIVIANO-ESTADOUNIDENSE

A student-focused field measurement campaign was held in the vicinity of Mt. Chacaltaya in the Bolivian Andes near the city of La Paz on May 24, 2022. The campaign was part of a program funded by the US Department of State, the main goal of which was to foster cultural and scientific exchange among Bolivian and US students. As part of this exchange, a group of eight Bolivian and four U.S. students worked together to plan and execute measurements which focused on quantifying the flow of particulate matter from the city of La Paz toward the summit of Mt. Chacaltaya, where the world’s highest elevation Global Atmosphere Watch site is located. Measurements were performed at three locations along a canyon that leads toward the summit of Mt. Chacaltaya and is a natural pathway for city-generated pollutants to travel toward the GAW station. The measurements indicated the presence of regular, solarheating-generated, downslope/upslope wind flow that aids the movement of particles near the mountain surface. The development of convection during the afternoon regularly decreased the concentrations measured at the surface and thus complicated the interpretation of particle flows. A novel, low-cost tethersonde apparatus was developed by members of the Laboratory for Atmospheric Physics (LFA) at the Universidad Mayor de San Andres (UM- ´ SA). Use of this tethersonde permitted vertical profiles of winds, temperature, pressure and relative humidity to be acquired thus allowing the investigation of the vertical structure of the transition between downslope and upslope flow. Outside of the measurement campaign, the students engaged in cultural activities together to enjoy local Bolivian sites and get to know each other better. One of the goals of the experiment was to increase interest in the atmospheric sciences among UMSA students. The results of a post-campaign survey indicate that participation in this joint field campaign has increased the number of physics students participating in the activities of the LFA at UMSA