The climatic conditions of the Atacama Desert as the extreme desert of the earth.

Abstract

The work analyzes what is to be understood by the expression "the driest desert on earth", verifying, through comparison with other known deserts, the presence of two fundamental variables; the scarcity of precipitation and the magnitude of the daily temperature oscillation. In both variables, the author observes that the northern Chilean desert presents extreme conditions, even more acute than in the Sahara desert. He thus proves, using thermal and hygrometric criteria, that the central core of the Atacama Desert (and not the coast) is to be considered the "driest desert on earth". The paper also examines why coastal moisture from the Pacific Ocean, or from the eastern sector, fails to penetrate to the inner core of the Pampa.