Integration in ACTRIS-D

Due to its unique location, the CVAO has been integrated as one of the observation platforms of the German National Facility (NF) research infrastructure within the ACTRIS network.

Within the framework of the BMBF-funded ACTRIS-D project, the site's infrastructure is being improved by the construction of a new, approx. 210 m² laboratory building with self-sufficient renewable solar energy, the modernisation of instruments and the establishment of the first remote sensing measuring station in the north-eastern tropical Atlantic.

The existing long-term physical-chemical observations will be improved by new aerosol in-situ measurement instruments for detailed characterisation of the chemical composition and physical properties of aerosols and complemented by ozone and NOx measurements.

The new remote sensing site at OSCM in Mindelo will be equipped with state-of-the-art, fully automated multi-wavelength lidar, sun photometer, cloud radar and microwave radiometer instruments important for the assessment of vertical aerosol distributions and atmospheric composition.

The infrastructure provides unique opportunities for monitoring extreme weather conditions at ground and high altitude, pollution episodes or mineral dust and biomass burning events, and ocean-atmosphere interaction processes that are important for understanding our changing climate.

The data generated by ACTRIS will be made available to local, regional and international stakeholders through open access to assist them in policy making and monitoring the effectiveness of air quality regulations, optimising regional weather forecasts and understanding the evolution of short-lived atmospheric constituents of particular importance.