OrGanic Tracers and Aerosol Constituents - Calibration Centre (OGTAC-CC)

The Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD) of TROPOS hosts the Organic Tracers and Aerosol Constituents - Calibration Centre (OGTAC-CC), that has launched within EUROCHAMP-2020. It will be the first worldwide and focus on tracers and main SOA constituents of biogenic and anthropogenic origin. In the framework of EUROCHAMP-2020 it provides a strong benefit to the aerosol and simulation chamber communities, as it harmonizes approaches for the chemical analysis of organic particulate constituents. The activities of OGTAC-CC are based on two pillars: hands-on training sessions on state-of-the-art instruments to gain highly trained personnel and ensure highest level of QA/QC due to inter-laboratory comparisons. Moreover, OGTAC-CC fosters a strong network of research groups across Europe working in the area of organic aerosol analysis, providing support and service for basic separation and detection techniques such as gas and liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC/MS, GC/MS). Here, OGTAC-CC offers convenient methods for the analysis of organic particulate compounds.

In the framework of ACTRiS (Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infrastructure) OGTAC-CC becomes a Topical Centre that will be responsible for the development and provision of standard operating procedures (SOPs), the organization of training sessions and the realization of inter-laboratory comparison studies. In addition,OGTAC-CC will actively follow and engage in ongoing developments in scientific research and technical evolution, resulting also in a strong connection to industry and instrument manufacturers. Moreover, the technical evolution will lead to instruments with higher resolution, accuracy and sensitivity, combined with an enhanced time resolution, which will inevitably require highly trained personnel for the demanding tasks of laboratory work and data analysis in the field of atmospheric multiphase processes.