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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2025-5643</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Ozone trends and drivers at a Southern Hemisphere background site in Chile</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Gallardo</surname>
<given-names>Laura</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7605-3721</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Opazo</surname>
<given-names>Charlie</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9178-2222</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Menares</surname>
<given-names>Camilo</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Basoa</surname>
<given-names>Kevin</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Daskalakis</surname>
<given-names>Nikos</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2409-0392</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Kanakidou</surname>
<given-names>Maria</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1724-9692</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff6">
<sup>6</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Vega</surname>
<given-names>Carmen</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff7">
<sup>7</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Huneeus</surname>
<given-names>Nicolás</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Rondanelli</surname>
<given-names>Roberto</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7440-7810</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Seguel</surname>
<given-names>Rodrigo</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4641-5618</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Center for Climate and Resilience Research (CR2, FONDAP 15110009), Santiago, Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Departamento de Geofísica, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Ministry of the Environment, Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Laboratory for Modeling and Observation of the Earth System (LAMOS), Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff6">
<label>6</label>
<addr-line>Center for the Study of Air Quality and Climate Change, Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas, Patras, Greece</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff7">
<label>7</label>
<addr-line>Dirección Meteorológica de Chile</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>01</day>
<month>12</month>
<year>2025</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2025</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>35</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2025 Laura Gallardo et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2025</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-5643/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-5643/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-5643/egusphere-2025-5643.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2025/egusphere-2025-5643/egusphere-2025-5643.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Tropospheric ozone (O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;) is a significant anthropogenic climate forcer with uncertain distribution in the Southern Hemisphere due to sparse observations. This study analyzes 28 years of in situ ozone, methane, carbon monoxide, and meteorological data at Tololo (30.17&amp;deg; S, 70.80&amp;deg; W, 2154 m a.s.l.), Chile, integrating reanalysis and atmospheric chemistry modeling. Here we identify a rising ozone trend of 2.1 &amp;plusmn; 0.8 ppbv per decade since 2006, primarily driven by increasing background methane. We quantify contributions from biomass burning and stratosphere-to-troposphere transport, each adding approximately 5 ppbv per event during late winter and spring O&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; maximum. Stratospheric intrusions are linked to synoptic-scale troughs and cutoff lows, modulated by El Ni&amp;ntilde;o Southern Oscillation phases. These findings enhance understanding of ozone variability in the Southern Hemisphere free troposphere and underscore the importance of sustained observations at Tololo to monitor tropospheric ozone dynamics amid climate change.</p>
</abstract>
<counts><page-count count="35"/></counts>
<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo</funding-source>
<award-id>FONDAP/ANID 1523A0002</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
</front>
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