What is ACTRIS-Switzerland?
ACTRIS-Switzerland is the Swiss node of the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), ACTRIS. The ACTRIS network aims to deepen our understanding of climate change and air pollution by producing high-quality observation data on short-lived atmospheric constituents such as atmospheric aerosols, reactive trace gases, and clouds. ACTRIS-Switzerland makes an outstanding contribution to this network thanks to its combination of advanced research facilities and its exceptional geographical location covering the central Alps.
ACTRIS-Switzerland consists of three observational platforms for monitoring the concentrations and properties of aerosols, clouds and reactive trace gases in the atmosphere: Jungfraujoch, Payerne and Beromünster, one exploratory platform (atmospheric chemistry simulation chamber, and two central facility units for calibrating in situ trace gas and aerosol remote sensing observations
What do we study?
We measure short-lived atmospheric constituents (aerosols, reactive trace gases, and clouds) to understand their impacts on air quality and climate. The unique location of our observational network covering the Swiss Plateau (Payerne and Beromünster) and central Alps (Jungfraujoch) allows us to explore different atmospheric layers and to investigate atmospheric transport processes. Our atmospheric observations are complemented by process studies performed in laboratory simulation chambers (PACS exploratory platform) and our central facility units (CiGas and CARS) provide operational support and calibration standards for the entire ACTRIS network.
ACTRIS-Switzerland Partners
The ACTRIS-Switzerland consortium consists of the following members:
- Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI): Dr. Martin Gysel-Beer, ACTRIS-Switzerland Coordinator.
- Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa): Dr. Stefan Reimann
- Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC): Dr. Stelios Kazadzis
- Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science (IAC), ETH Zurich: Dr. Zamin Kanji
- University of Bern: Dr. Axel Murk
- Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology, MeteoSwiss: Dr. Martine Collaud Coen
ACTRIS Heritage
ACTRIS results from more than 15 years of consistent development funded by both Member States and the European Commission through the Research Infrastructure program.
ACTRIS was officially initiated as an Integrated Initiative in 2011 building on previous EU-funded research collaborations: EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar Network), EUSAAR (European Supersites for Atmospheric Aerosol Research), CREATE (Construction, use and delivery of an European aerosol database), and Cloudnet, to which a new integration of long-term trace-gas observatories was then added. The short-lived components of NDACC (Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change) have also been incorporated into ACTRIS, building on advances made in the NORS program. Many of the observatories in ACTRIS are collocated with EMEP, GAW and GRUAN sites, and in many cases observations started prior to the mentioned EU projects in quasi-independent initiatives. In addition, a few facilities (e.g. large simulation chambers) have been operating for years within the EUROCHAMP projects.
ACTRIS operations are now funded by its member and observer countries. Further details can be found on the ACTRIS website.