Download JRC - Ispra Atmosphere - Biosphere - Climate Integrated Monitoring Station Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle
A comprehensive set of essential atmospheric variables have been measured at the JRC-Ispra Atmosphere - Biosphere - Climate Integrated monitoring Station (ABC-IS) for several years to assess the impact of European policies and international conventions on air pollution and climate forcing. The variables we measure at the Atmospheric Observatory in Ispra include greenhouse gas concentrations (CO2, CH4, N2O, SF6), radon (222Rn) activity concentration, short-lived gaseous and particulate pollutant (CO, SO2, NO, NO2, O3, PM2.5 and its main ionic and carbonaceous constituents) concentrations, atmospheric particle micro-physical characteristics (number concentration and size distribution) and optical properties (light scattering and absorption in-situ, light scattering and extinction vertical profiles remotely), eutrophying and acidifying species (SO42-, NO3-, NH4+) wet deposition. On-line measurements data are available in real time at http://abc-is.jrc.ec.europa.eu/. Vegetation atmosphere exchanges (CO2, O3, H2O and heat) are measured at our Forest Flux Station of San Rossore, backed up by meteorological and pedological measurements. All the measurements performed at ABC-IS are made under international projects and programs including ICOS (Integrated Carbon Observation System), ACTRIS (Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infra-Structure), EMEP (co-operative Program for Monitoring and Evaluation of the long range transmission of air pollutants in Europe) and GAW (Global Atmosphere Watch), which implies the use of standard methods and scales, and the participation in quality assurance activities. The JRC has a leading role in ACTRIS and EMEP regarding the quality assurance for carbonaceous aerosol measurements. All the data obtained at ABC-IS are submitted to international open data bases (www.europe-fluxdata.eu, fluxnet.ornl.gov, www.ingos-infrastructure.eu, ebas.nilu.no) and can be freely downloaded from these web sites. The data we produce are used in European wide assessments, for model inputs and validation, and for calibrating satellite airborne sensors. The ABC-IS 2016 report presents the data produced during the past year in the context of the previous years of measurements. All the essential in-situ and remote sensing measurements scheduled for 2016 were regularly performed across the year, except for short periods of calibration, preventive and corrective maintenance. Greenhouse gas (GHG) measurements have been performed at the JRC Ispra site since October 2007. Minimum values of CH4, N2O and SF6 measured in Ispra under clean air conditions are close to marine background values, while CO2 mixing ratios can even be lower than the Mace Head baseline due to the continental biospheric CO2 sink. Deviations from baseline concentrations provide information about regional and larger scale European greenhouse gas sources. From our daytime measurements, we derived increasing trends in CO2 (+0.9% yr-1) and CH4 (+0.4% yr-1) over the past 9 years, and in N2O (+0.3% yr-1) over the past 6 years. GHG measurements from the 100 m high tower of our new Atmospheric Observatory in Ispra started in December 2016.The concentrations of most short-lived pollutants monitored at the JRC-Ispra station (CO, NO2, O3, atmospheric particulate matter) have decreased in 2016 compared to 2015 by about 10 to 15%. This can be at least in part explained by the weather conditions, 2016 being normally wet (except in January and December), while 2015 was exceptionally dry. Only SO2 concentrations increased slightly (̃+10%), but still remained far below limit values. In contrast, SO42- wet deposition decreased (-25%), while wet deposition of NH4+ increased (+10%), giving rise to a very limited number (3) of acid rain events in 2016. In general, 2016 did not break the general decreasing trend in atmospheric pollution observed in Ispra since 1986. A noticeable exception regards ozone (O3), whose concentrations have remained relatively high in 2016. The indicators for health and ecosystem safeguard have deteriorated since 2012 (2014 excluded) compared to the 2000's. It would be worth studying the geographical extent of this tendency across Europe to understand its origin. The decreasing trend in particulate matter mass concentrations observed over the past 3 decades have been accompanied with a decrease in ultra-fine particle number between 2004 and 2013, but no longer since then. It has also led to a decrease in visible light scattering by the atmospheric particles, but not that much in light absorption. This implies that the negative radiative forcing (climate cooling) of atmospheric particles is getting smaller and smaller in our area. Determining the climate effect of the aerosol remains a big challenge and further investment would be needed in this field. The atmosphere - vegetation exchange measurements at our forest flux station of San Rossore show that the pine tree forest is a net sink for CO2 (530 gC/m2 absorbed in 2016). The different meteorological conditions prevailing in 2016 (wetter) compared to 2015 (dryer) allowed us to observe that the carbon sequestration by this Mediterranean forest was 5% greater during the dryer year than the wetter year.