THE MONTSEC REMOTE BACKGROUND MONITORING SITE

Located at the top of the Serra del Montsec, a calcareous mountain range in the Pre-Pyrenees,
in the foothills of the Pyrenees, northeast Spain. It is located beside the facilities of the Montsec Astronomic Observatory,
Montsec d’Ares (42° 3’5.95″N, 0°43’46.03″E, 1600 meters amsl), Lérida.

This site is included in the European Aerosols, Clouds, and Trace gases Research InfraStructure network (ACTRIS) and the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) network, from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

   

Research

Research carried out at this site is included in the Air Quality and Exposure assessment research lines.

This research aims to:

  • To get a time-series and interpret the spatial and temporal variability of physico-chemical and optical parameters of the tropospheric aerosols in remote areas in the Western Mediterranean.

  • To study the aerosol formation and change processes in an environment with no local anthropogenic emissions influence.

  • To identify the atmospheric PM sources, with special emphasis on the contribution from long range transport.

  • To determine the main aerosol parameters for the development of radiative models (aerosol optical depth, single scattering albedo, aerosol asymmetry parameter, among others).

Measurements

Most measurements are available since 2010, when the container was installed.
However, PMx levels and PM speciation measurements, obtained in the framework of the DAMOCLES project, are available since 2005.

Parameter Instrument Time resolution Starting year
Aerosols
Ground measurements
Online
PMx Levels Optical counters GRIMM 1107 30′ 2005
N # cm-3 CPC TSI 3776 5′ 2010
Absorption coefficient MAAP Caruso Thermo 1′ 2010
Absorption coefficient AE33 Magee Aerosol doo 1′ 2013
Scattering coefficient Nephelometer Aurora 3000 1′ 2011
PM1 SO42- ACSM -Aerodyne 30′ 2011-2012
PM1 NO3- ACSM -Aerodyne 30′ 2011-2012
PM1 NH4+ ACSM -Aerodyne 30′ 2011-2012
PM1 Cl- ACSM -Aerodyne 30′ 2011-2012
PM1 Organics ACSM -Aerodyne 30′ 2011-2012
Columnar measurements
Vertical profiles of aerosol backscatter coefficients Ceilometer CHM15K -Nimbus- JENOPTIC 2014
Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) Sun photometer CIMEL CE-318 (UB) 2012
Gaseous compounds
NOx Model 42i-TL Chemiluminiscence 2011
CO Teledyne 300 EU Gas filter correlation 2011
SO2 Teledyne 100 EU UV fluorescence 2011
O3 MCV 48AV UV photometry 2011
For more information of offline paremeters and instruments visit Measurements