- Ref: LS2022-1
- Funding agency: Plan Propio. Universidad de Granada
- Realization: 25/02/2022 a 25/02/2027
- PI: Lucas Alados Arboledas
- Researchers: GFAT (Grupo de Investigación de Física de la Atmósfera de la UGR)
- Collaborators: ÁGORA (Andalusian Global ObseRvatory of the Atmosphere) y las redes ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortia) en la que se integra del programa ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures): ACTRIS (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure), ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) o LifeWatch
Abstract
The Interuniversity Institute for Research on the Earth System in Andalusia, IISTA, has as its main objective to promote scientific and technological knowledge, development and innovation in the field of the Earth System: atmosphere, hydrosphere and crust and its ecosystems, taking into account its implication in socioeconomic and environmental developments, and to favor its transfer to public administrations, organizations and public and private companies.
The Group of Physics of the Atmosphere (GFAT) is part of IISTA, and its objective is scientific research on atmospheric aerosols, aerosol-cloud interaction, greenhouse gases, study of atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) processes, air quality and the energy balance of the surface and the atmosphere. To carry out its research activities, the GFAT is equipped with complex instrumentation equipment that is assembled in the observation platform ÁGORA (Andalusian Global Observatory of the Atmosphere).
ÁGORA combines a wide variety of measurement techniques, ranging from remote active and passive ground-based sounding to in-situ techniques. ÁGORA is deployed in several facilities, located in urban, rural and mountainous environments, plus an aerosol spectroscopy laboratory. Located in the southernmost part of Europe, it offers a unique opportunity to study Saharan dust on its way to mix with polluted air from regions of Europe, as well as the contribution of anthropogenic and biogenic aerosol generated in the city of Granada. The different altitudes of the ÁGORA facilities allow the validation study of vertical aerosol profiles and cloud properties, as well as the study of the interaction of the planetary boundary layer (ABL) and the free troposphere. ÁGORA operates within the ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortia) networks of the ESFRI (European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures) program, such as ACTRIS (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure), ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System) or LifeWatch. As part of ERIC, ÁGORA participates in the principles of open access and offers services to the national and international scientific community through monitoring protocols and researcher access to equipment. An example of an access program of which ÁGORA is part is the European H2020 project ATMO-ACCESS, which explores the development of sustainable solutions for the provision of access to atmospheric research infrastructures as an alternative to traditional physical (face-to-face) access. One of the singularities of ÁGORA is that it is organized in several sites and covers a wide variety of atmospheric observation techniques, making it a unique facility within the ACTRIS ERIC network.
The creation of the ÁGORA Singular Laboratory has a marked strategic character as it is a unique atmospheric observation platform in Spain for several reasons: (i) it is located in a particular orographic location, which makes it a privileged place for the observation at different heights of natural aerosols from Africa and the Mediterranean, and anthropogenic aerosols in a city with high levels of pollution; (ii) it combines the two detection techniques for atmospheric measurements: in-situ for surface measurements and remote sensing to obtain information from the atmospheric column, both techniques implemented in a wealth of state-of-the-art instrumentation unmatched in Spain; (iii) it participates, as a platform for atmospheric column information, in a unique platform for atmospheric observation: in-situ for surface measurements and remote sensing for obtaining atmospheric column information, both techniques implemented in a wealth of unmatched state-of-the-art instrumentation; (iii) participates, as an observation platform, in national and international observation networks providing data and offering access to researchers.