The ECHOZ (Ecuadorian Highlands Ozonesondes) project: findings from ozone profiles above the equatorial Andes

The ECHOZ project at Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ) in Ecuador is an effort to monitor ozone throughout the atmospheric column above the equatorial Andes in a sustained fashion in time. Ozonesondes are launched from our Atmospheric Measurement Station (EMA, Spanish acronym) at coordinates 0.19°S, 78.43°W, and 2414 masl with a frequency of about once per month. Currently EMA USFQ is the only station in the tropical Andes region that is actively launching ozonesondes with the projection/intention of continuing this effort in the long-term. In this work we will present ozone, temperature, water vapor, and wind profiles from soundings launched between 2014 and 2018. Among the findings that will be discussed are: a) structure of ozone profiles; b) tropopause height and cold point tropopause measurements; c) ozone column comparisons with satellite data; and d) the signature of the QBO in the ECHOZ time series from wind profile data.