Letter from the Editor

As the new Editor in Chief of Atmósfera, I want to acknowledge the efforts and great work of Dr. Graciela B. Raga, who has recently finished a prolific two-year term as head of this journal. Dr. Raga has extended the outreach of Atmósfera and consolidated its position as one of the best scientific journals in Mexico.

I also wish to inform that there has been a major reorganization of our Editorial Board, which is now presided by Dr. Mario Molina, and includes well-renowned international specialists in atmospheric sciences.

My first goal as Editor in Chief of Atmósfera will be the publishing of new themes and the enrollment of new authors, in order to expand the scope of the journal and capture the interest of the specialized readers. We will also have a new work scheme, in which the associated editors will play a major role, and will also increase (beginning in January 2013) the number of articles in each issue from six to eight.

In this issue, B. Tencer and M. Rusticucci analyze the interdecadal variability of temperature extreme events in Argentina, concluding that in the last 20 years of the twentieth century there was a decrease in the intensity of warm and cold extreme events; J. L. Bravo-Cabrera et al. use annual average of daily precipitation in Mexico to group climatological stations into clusters using the k-means procedure and principal component analysis, and compare results with previous studies; E. Palacios-Hernández et al. present a synthesis of historical weather conditions for Isla María Madre (1922-1989) to reflect conditions that impact the mainland of Mexico, and compare them with reanalysis in the same area; M. K. Paras and J. Rai study red sprites, obtaining expressions for their velocity and current, as well as variations of current moment and charge moment change, and the approximate radiation electric field generated from the current moment; K. Vijayakumar and P. C. S. Devara study changes in the response of meteorological parameters, aerosol, ozone, and water vapor properties, using ground-based and satellite data sets, during the Holi festival period, when people throw around great amounts of colored powder and dye; finally, J. L. Ramírez-Reyes et al. evaluate atmospheric aggressiveness in Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico, with the standard method of bolt and wire, and throughout flat samples of mild steel, galvanized steel, copper and aluminum.

I hope you find these articles stimulating and useful.

Sincerely,
Dr. Carlos Gay-García
Editor in Chief