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Context for ACTRIS
Europe supports the establishment of Research Infrastructures that provide resources and services to science communities to facilitate research and foster innovation.
They can be used beyond research, e.g. for education or public services, and they may be single-sited (e.g., CERN), distributed over several sites, or virtual (e.g., providing digital services).
The landscape of European Research Infrastructures covers almost all research domains. The Aerosol, Clouds and TRace gases Infrastructure (ACTRIS) is filling a gap in the landscape of atmospheric Research Infrastructures in the Environment domain.
After many years of preparation and implementation by all partners, the European Commission has decided to establish ACTRIS as a legal entity, the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), on April 25, 2023.
ACTRIS objectives and structure
ACTRIS provides high-quality data, information and services for facilitating research on short-lived climate pollutants and on the processes controlling their variability in natural and controlled atmospheres.
ACTRIS covers six components, namely in-situ and remote sensing of aerosol, clouds and trace gases. Each component provides high-quality data according to well-defined standards that are coordinated and supported by an associated Central Facility providing expertise and guidelines, as well as support for the operations at the observational facilities operated by the various member states, including Belgium.
Belgium and BIRA-IASB in ACTRIS
The Belgian ACTRIS consortium is led by BIRA-IASB. It includes the Royal Meteorological Institute, University of Liège and Institut Scientifique de Service Public (ISSeP); VITO has joined end of 2024.
All these institutes operate a variety of fixed or mobile stations in Belgium and beyond, covering observations of atmospheric pollutants and aerosol, using in-situ sampling or remote sensing techniques. The embedding of these stations in ACTRIS is covered by a long-term commitment by the involved research organisations and funding authorities to sustain these observations on the long term.
Currently, the Belgian fixed ACTRIS stations are:
- Ukkel,
- Vielsalm,
- Jungfraujoch Observatory (Swiss Alps) and
- the Observatoire de Physique de l'Atmosphère at La Réunion.
BIRA-IASB and VITO also operate mobile platforms for in-situ measurements of reactive trace gases and aerosol.
In addition, BIRA-IASB is leading the Central Facility for Reactive Trace Gas Remote Sensing (CREGARS). CREGARS provides guidelines and support for operating the dedicated instruments at the observational facilities and for providing high-quality observational data.
It also provides a system for processing the raw data from each station into geophysical information on target climate pollutants for uptake in research or for policy purposes.
BIRA-IASB also manages the collaboration between ACTRIS and the related global monitoring networks in order to ensure a common observational approach and provision of comparable high-quality data at the global scale, and to benefit from each other’s expertise and services.
References
- Laj.P, et al., Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS): The European Research Infrastructure Supporting Atmospheric Science, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 105, E1098–E1136, 2024; https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0064.1.
- https://www.actris.eu
