Multi-instrument research of the atmospheric aerosol from the European research infrastructure ACTRIS in Castilla y León (AeroCyL).
- Founded by: Junta de Castilla y León
- Duration: 2021-2023
- Budget: 172 000€
- Reference: VA227P20
Summary
The GOA-UVa has a long history of research on atmospheric components, mainly focused on suspended particles or aerosols, for more than 20 years. Since 2006, it has managed a calibration center for NASA's AERONET photometer network, the most extensive worldwide network for aerosol studies and satellite and model validation. This has allowed us to participate in the European infrastructure ACTRIS, which is part of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap, and is currently in the implementation phase. For this we had to make an effort in human capital as well as develop tools that facilitate the operation of the network, such as the CÆLIS software tool, as well as equipping a laboratory and an outdoor observation platform. The calibration facility together with the set of optical instruments available to the GOA-UVa (photometers, sky cameras, ceilometer, solar radiation), constitutes the ideal context for the objectives proposed for this project: first, the investigation of new methods and combinations of instruments that allow the retrieval of atmospheric aerosol properties using the GRASP algorithm, the most versatile and advanced currently available for these purposes. The collaboration with GRASP-SAS company dates to its foundation and is endorsed by an agreement. And secondly, we intend to use all these tools to detect and characterize aerosol events over Castilla y León and evaluate their forcing and therefore their effect on climate, in the context of long-term measurement series, such as the dataset maintained by our group in Palencia since 2003. Strengthening and continuing to develop tools will allow us to continue leading, together with our ACTRIS partners, the observation of the atmosphere with photometric measurements, which are the basis for studies by a broad scientific community, for which we continue to produce quality-assured data in near real time, while we investigate in new technologies and methods.