The Beromünster National Facility is a research station that provides rural background measurements of trace gases to the ACTRIS network. Together with the Payerne National Facility, Beromünster is situated in the Swiss Midlands, the area between Lake Geneva in the southwest and Lake Constance in the northeast where two thirds of the Swiss population resides. The Swiss Midlands is an area of strong contrasts, being comprised of farming and agricultural lands as well as large settlements, industrial areas, and heavy traffic flows. During the warmer months convective active regularly transports air from the Swiss Midlands up to Jungfraujoch.
Trace gas in situ observations in Beromünster
Beromünster provides rural background measurements of VOCs and NOx to the ACTRIS network. Measurements of VOCs are performed by a specifically-built gas chromatograph-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and includes both non-methane hydrocarbons and oxygenated VOCs.
Beromuenster is a station within the Swiss National Air Pollution Monitoring Network (NABEL). A network of 16 sites in Switzerland, commonly managed by Empa and FOEN (Federal Office for the Environment) It is a former radio tower with different inlets up to around 200 m. Further air pollutants such as SO2, CO and O3 are measured together with many meteorological parameters. In addition, the greenhouse gases CO2, CH4 and N2O are continuously monitored as Swiss contribution to the European ICOS infrastructure.
Image 1: The site of Beromünster
Image 2: A selection of NMHCs and OVOCs measured at Beromünster.