THE CLIMATE OF NORTHERN CHILE: MEAN STATE, VARIABILITY AND TRENDS

This paper documents the main features of the climate of northern Chile where several astronomical observatories are located or projected to be built. We first provide a large-scale context for the regional climate, describing the relative importance of the Hadley cell, South American Monsoon and extratropical disturbances in shaping the mean state of temperature, precipitation and winds. We then describe the effects of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation in producing some level of interannual variability in northern Chile and conclude our work summarizing recent studies on observed climate trends and projected climate changes during the rest of the 21st century.