Izaña Atmospheric Research Center
AEMET participa en la “Central Facility” CARS (Central Facility for Aerosol Remote Sensing) en la Unidad Automatic sun/sky/lunar photometers (ASP); y como “Observational Platform” en la componente Aerosol In-situ (CAIS en inglés), con su estación de Izaña.
El Centro de Investigación Atmosférica de Izaña (CIAI) forma parte del Departamento de Planificación, Estrategia y Desarrollo de Negocio de la Agencia Estatal de Meteorología de España (AEMET).
IARC conducts observations and research related to atmospheric constituents that are capable of forcing change in the climate of the Earth (greenhouse gases and aerosols), and may cause depletion of the global ozone layer, and play key roles in air quality from local to global scales.
Significant Infrastructures
The Izaña Atmospheric Research Center (IARC) of the Meteorological Agency of Spain (AEMET) provides the unique observation platform of Izaña Observatory, located on the island of Tenerife, Spain, 300 km west of the African coast, on a mountain plateau (2400 m a.s.l.) offering excellent “free troposphere” conditions, and being periodically impacted by the Saharan Air Layer.
The platform is equipped with state-of-the-art radiometric instrumentation, in many cases consisting of reference instruments of world-wide networks. A laboratory for radiometric calibrations equipped with integrating spheres, reference calibrated lamps, spectrometer, and angular response calibration, is also available. Moreover, IARC is a facility for the investigation of chemical composition and related physical characteristics of the atmosphere and their trends, mostly under free troposphere conditions, and within the Saharan Air Layer in summer. Long term monitoring of in-situ greenhouse gases and reactive gases is carried out at Izaña since 1984. Sun photometer, lidar, ceilometer and aerosol in-situ observations are carried out also at AEMET headquarters in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The main IARC/AEMET facilities consist of three separate buildings: the main building with a total area of 1420 m2, the aerosols lab; Aerosols Laboratory; and the technical tower, completely rebuilt in early 2000, which hosts most of the instruments.
The main building is a two-storey building, which hosts several technician facilities along a seven-storey building with a total area of 900m2. It includes 20 laboratories with a temperature-controlled. Some examples of measurement programme by IARC include Greenhouse Gases and Carbon Cycle, in situ reactive gases, total ozone column and UV, FTIR, in situ aerosols column aerosols, radiation, meteorology, aerobiology, phenology, etc. In the context of ACTRIS, IARC contributes with observations of aerosol parameters by in-situ techniques and is part, in collaboration with GOA-UVA, of the ACTRIS Centre for Aerosol Remote Sensing (CARS) through its sun photometer calibration facilities.
Responsible
África Barreto