AGORA
The Andalusian Global ObseRvatory of the Atmosphere (AGORA) is located in Southern Spain. It consists of several experimental sites that allow the coverage of different atmospheric backgrounds: urban, rural or mountain. In addition, AGORA has a laboratory for aerosol spectroscopy research. AGORA has been developed with the aim of performing multi-instrumental studies of atmospheric processes, with special focus on: (i) atmospheric aerosol and its role in climate and air quality, (ii) aerosol-cloud interaction processes, and (iii) active trace gases in the lowermost atmosphere layers.
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.