Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory (CVAO)
http://www.ncas.ac.uk/index.php/cvao-home
Core Data
Identification
Hosting Legal Entity
Max Planck Society
University of York
National Centre for Atmospheric Science
National Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics
Leibniz Association
Address:
Germany
Location
Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory, Calhau (Cape Verde)
Structure
Type Of RI
Single-sited
Coordinating Country
United Kingdom
Status
Status
Current Status:
Operational since 2006
Scientific Description
Mission and objectives
The Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory (CVAO) is part of a bilateral German-UK initiative to undertake long-term ground- and ocean-based observations in the tropical Eastern North Atlantic Ocean region. The CVAO exists to advance understanding of climatically-significant interactions between the atmosphere and ocean and to provide a regional focal point and long-term data context for field campaigns. Measurements of O3, CO, NO, NO2, NOy and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) began at the site in October 2006. Chemical characterisation of aerosol measurements and flask sampling of greenhouse gases began in November 2006, halocarbon measurements in May 2007, and physical measurements of aerosol in June 2008. On-line measurements of greenhouse gases began in October 2008.The CVAO is a World Meteorological Organisation-Global Atmospheric Watch (WMO-GAW) global station and quality-assured atmospheric data for use by the international scientific community are regularly deposited at both the WMO-GAW and British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) data archives.

RI Keywords
Boundary layer, Tropical, Marine, Greenhouse gases, Monitoring, Trace gases, Aerosols, Atmospheric
Classifications
RI Category
Atmospheric Measurement Facilities
Scientific Domain
Earth and Environmental Sciences
ESFRI Domain
Environment
Services
Access to the CVAO

Users are invited to apply for access to the CVAO through the Atmospheric Measurement Facility or by contacting Katie Read, to deploy additional instrumentation at the site.

Longterm datasets

Data from the CVAO is available for download through the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) or through the World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG).

Equipment
Meteorological instrumentation

Wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity, pressure at 7.5m and 30m. Rainfall at 30m, Solar radiation at 7.5m.

Aerosol Instrumentation

Instrumentation to measure physical and chemical parameters of aerosol.

Greenhouse gas instrumentation

Instrumentation to measure CO2, CH4, O2, N2, SF6, N2O, CO.

Trace gas instrumentation

Instrumentation to measure ozone, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, halocarbons, total gaseous mercury.

Infrastructure

10m tower, 30m tower, air conditioned laboratories.

Additional Data
Collaborations
Networks
GMOS
GAW