Although Heat Waves (HWs) are expected to increase due to global warming, they are a regional phenomenon that demands for local analyses. In this paper, we assess four HW metrics (HW duration, HW frequency, HW amplitude, and number of HWs per season) as well as the share of extremely warm days (TX95, according to the 95th percentile) in South America (SA). Our analysis included observations as well as simulations from global and regional models. In particular, Regional Climate Models (RCMs) from the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX), and Global Climate Models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) were used to project both TX95 estimates and HW metrics according to two representative concentration pathways (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5). We found that in recent decades the share of extremely warm days has at least doubled over the period December–January–February (DJF) in northern SA; less significant increases have been observed in southern SA. We also found that by midcentury, under the RCP4.5 scenario, extremely warm DJF days (as well as the number of HWs per season) are expected to increase by 5–10 times at locations close to the Equator and in the Atacama Desert. Increases are expected to be less pronounced in southern SA. Projections under the RCP8.5 scenario are more striking, particularly in tropical areas where half or more of the days could be extremely warm by midcentury.

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Soiling by dry deposition affects the power output of photovoltaic (PV) modules, especially under dry and arid conditions that favor natural atmospheric aerosols (wind-blown dust). In this paper, we report on measurements of the soiling effect on the energy yield of grid-connected crystalline silicon PV modules deployed in five cities across a north-south transect of approximately 1300 km in the Atacama Desert ranging from latitude 18°S to latitude 30°S. Energy losses were assessed by comparing side-by-side outputs of four co-planar PV modules. Two of the PV modules of the array were kept clean as a control, while we allowed the other two to naturally accumulate soiling for 12 months (from January 2017 to January 2018). We found that the combination of high deposition rates and infrequent rainfalls led to annual energy losses that peaked at 39% in the northern coastal part of the desert. In contrast, annual energy losses of 3% or less were measured at relatively high-altitude sites and also at locations in the southern part of the desert. For comparison, soiling-induced annual energy losses of about 7% were measured in Santiago, Chile (33°S), a major city with higher rainfall frequency but where urban pollution plays a significant role.

The world's highest levels of surface ultraviolet (UV) irradiance have been measured in the Atacama Desert. This area is characterized by its high altitude, prevalent cloudless conditions, and a relatively low total ozone column. In this paper, we provide estimates of the surface UV (monthly UV index at noon and annual doses of UV-B and UV-A) for all sky conditions in the Atacama Desert. We found that the UV index at noon during the austral summer is expected to be greater than 11 in the whole desert. The annual UV-B (UV-A) doses were found to range from about 3.5 kWh/m (130 kWh/m) in coastal areas to 5 kWh/m (160 kWh/m) on the Andean plateau. Our results confirm significant interhemispherical differences. Typical annual UV-B doses in the Atacama Desert are about 40% greater than typical annual UV-B doses in northern Africa. Mostly due to seasonal changes in the ozone, the differences between the Atacama Desert and northern Africa are expected to be about 60% in the case of peak UV-B levels (i.e. the UV-B irradiances at noon close to the summer solstice in each hemisphere). Interhemispherical differences in the UV-A are significantly lower since the effect of the ozone in this part of the spectrum is minor.

The reference instruments to measure the surface UV irradiance are based on a double monochromator system. The spectral irradiance yielded by these instruments is influenced by temporal instabilities and nonlinearities in the signal, the cosine error as well as uncertainties introduced in the needed prior calibrations. In this paper, we have carried out an uncertainty analysis of the spectral irradiances measured by using a mobile spectroradiometer that complies with the requirements of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC). The spectral measurements were performed on 9th June 2005 (cloudless sky conditions) at the Izaña Observatory (28.3 • N, 16.5 • E, 2367 m above sea level, Tenerife, Spain), during an international intercomparison campaign organized in the framework of the project Quality Assurance of Spectral Ultraviolet Measurements in Europe (QASUME). At solar zenith angles smaller than 30 • , we found that despite the variations due to wavelength shifts induced by the high environmental temperature the relative expanded uncertainty was about 7% in the UV-A part of the spectrum; an increment was observed at wavelengths shorter than 315 nm such that the expanded uncertainty of the UV-B irradiance at 300 nm wavelength was about 9%. The measurements of the other five teams that participated in the campaign were within the bound specified by these expanded uncertainties. We also found that, regardless of the influence of the cosine error, the uncertainties involved in the absolute calibration procedure accounted for about 65% of the irradiance uncertainty. Although only a double monochromator was used in this work, the methodology applied to evaluate the uncertainty is general and it agrees with recommendations of the ISO Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement.