Mt. Cimone – Po Valley Observatory

External view of the
External view of the "O. Vittori" Observatory at Mt. Cimone (top), the urban site at Bologna (bottom left) and the rural site of S. Pietro Capofiume (bottom right).
Laboratories and facilities at the “O. Vittori” observatory at Mt. Cimone
Laboratories and facilities at the “O. Vittori” observatory at Mt. Cimone

 

The Observatory “O. Vittori” at Mt. Cimone (44°12' N, 10°42' E, 2165 m a.s.l.) is the only high mountain station for atmospheric research both South of the Alps and the Po basin: it represents a strategic platform to study the South Europe and Mediterranean basin troposphere.

Besides being the only “global station” within the WMO/GAW in the Mediterranean basin, it also participates to ACTRIS-2, AGAGE and ICOS-RI.

Continuous measurement programmes for aerosol properties (physical/optical properties and chemistry), trace gases (GHG and reactive), columnar content and vertical profiling (AOD, Zenith-sky DOAS), meteorological parameters are carried out at Mt. Cimone, since several years.

In the framework of ACTRIS-RI, the “O. Vittori” observatory is integrated with the “S. Pietro Capofiume” rural site (43°21’N, 12°34’E, 11 m a.s.l.), located in the hearth of Po Basin and managed by ARPAE Emilia-Romagna in co-operation with CNR-ISAC and the Bologna Urban Observatory (43°21’N, 12°34’E, 39 m a.s.l.), located at the CNR-ISAC HQs.

This “Mt. Cimone – Po Valley” Observatory offers the possibility to integrate, in a coherent vertical and spatial framework, in-situ and remote sensing observations of aerosol, trace gases and clouds throughout one of the most sensitive European region for air-quality and pollution-climate interactions, as already done during field experiments: EUCAARI (2008), PEGASOS (2012), SUPERSITO (2011-2014), ACTRIS-2 field-campaign (2017).

 

In the following, the observation programmes running at the “Mt. Cimone - Po Valley” Observatory are reported.

  • Meteorological parameters and solar radiation: (CMN, BO, SPC).
  • Trace gases near-surface: O3 (CMN); SO2 (CMN, SPC); CO2 (CMN); CH4 (CMN); CO (CMN); NO-NO2 (CMN); VOC (CMN), halogenated greenhouse gases (SF6, CFCs, PFCs, HCFCs, HFCs).
  • Trace gases total columns and profiling: Zenith-sky DOAS and MAXDOAS for O3 , NO2, SO2, HCHO – Formaldehyde (CMN, BO).
  • Solar photometry: Aerosol Optical Depth, AOD (CMN, BO).
  • Aerosol near surface: number size distribution (280 nm - 10 µm) (CMN, BO); number size distribution (10 - 800nm) (CMN,SPC); aerosol mass PM2.5 e PM10 (BO); chemical composition during intensive field campaign (CMN, SPC, BO); absorption coefficient at 630 nm (CMN, BO), equivalent black carbon (CMN, BO); scattering and back scattering coefficient at 450, 550 and 700 nm (CMN); total particle number (from 10 nm to 3μm) (CMN).
  • Cloud in situ: fog chemical composition and atmospheric liquid water content (SPC).

 

For more information please visit:

 

Contact person:

- Dr. Paolo Cristofanelli: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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