The main objective of this work is to present a climatology and characterization
of fog and mist periods over Argentinean airports with different geographical
environments. Hourly aeronautical reports, METAR, were used for the 20-year
period corresponding to 2000-2019 at the following airports: Ezeiza, Aeroparque,
San Fernando, Mar del Plata, Rosario, Resistencia, Iguazú, Córdoba, Neuquén,
Bariloche, Rı́o Gallegos, Rı́o Grande, Ushuaia and Montevideo (Uruguay). Different
data sources were analyzed (from the SMN, Argentina, from OGIMET, Spain, and
from NOAA and IEM, United States) and the NOAA data source was selected for
this study because it was found to be the most complete and extended one. Data
analysis was made considering international ICAO’s regulations for meteorological
observations and the local meteorological observers’ practices. The greatest mean
number of days per year with fog was found at Mar del Plata, Ezeiza, Rı́o Grande
and Montevideo airports (49.8, 49.1, 34.1 y 34.8, respectively), whereas Neuquén,
Bariloche, Ushuaia and Aeroparque airports presented the lowest values (3.5, 4.4,
1.4 y 7.1, respectively). At some airports (Ezeiza, Mar del Plata, San Fernando,
Córdoba, Rosario, Montevideo) occurrence frequencies had a daily cycle with larger
values near dawn (15-20 %, 7 am) during most of the year, while at others (Rı́o
Gallegos, Rı́o Grande, Aeroparque), even if mainly found during the cold season,
it did not present a predominant hourly range. Wind speed and direction were
analyzed and included with particular emphasis on the airport infrastructure such as
runways directions and landing instruments. The first mentioned airports presented
calm wind conditions linked to the presence of fog and mists. At the secondly
mentioned airports, weak and moderate winds were dominant and mostly from
coastal directions. Lastly, to measure the impact that fogs have on aviation logistics
from airlines, frequencies of simultaneous hours with reduced visibility due to fog
in neighboring or alternative airports were studied.