Observations and Research
The main research aim at the site is to observe different atmospheric parameters relevant for climate change, regional pollution, atmosphere-ecosystem interactions, aerosol chemistry and physics based on long-term measurements.
The specific research topics include formation and growth of aerosol particles, concentrations of aerosol particles of natural and anthropogenic origin, aerosol optics, atmospheric trace gases, grassland-savannah carbon balance, ecosystem interactions and water balance in a water-limited ecosystem. Due to frequent lightning, the station is equipped with comprehensive incoming power and signal protections and it is built to start automatically after each power failure. The data are transferred wirelessly to a server for quality assurance.
| Measured property | Range/type |
| Meteorology | Temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, ambient pressure, vertical temperature gradient and precipitation |
| Solar radiation |
Incoming and reflected global radiation, incoming and reflected PPFD (PAR), diffusive radiation, net radiation |
| Aerosol number size distribution | DMPS 10-840 nm |
| Air ion size distribution | AIS 0.4-40 nm |
| PM10 and Black carbon | SHARP and MAAP |
| Trace gases | SO2, NO, NO2, O3, CO |
| Aerosol scattering | 3-wavelength nephelometer |
| Aerosol absorption | 7-wavelength aethalometer |
| Vertical aerosol profile and PBL height | height Vaisala CT25K ceilometer |
| Soil moisture, soil temperature sensors and soil heat flux | A range of different sensors: (at 5, 20 , 30, 40 & 50, 60 and 100 cm depths) |
| Ecosystem flux measurements | H2O, CO2 and sensible heat fluxes (Li7000 + acoustic anemometer) |
| SO2, NO2, CH4 and H2O vapour fluxes | Quantum Cascade Laser (Aerodyne) analyser |
| Rain water chemistry sampler |
Inorganic ions, simple organic acid analysis of rain water |
In addition to the continuous measurements there have been short-term (one year or less) measurements of biogenic and anthropogenic VOC's, aerosol chemical composition and column concentrations of atmospheric trace gases.
Data availability
Data collected at the site can be utilized in co-operation with the North-West University, Finnish Meteorological Institute and University of Helsinki. If you are interested in utilizing the data, please contact us.