Research infrastructure

Environmental sciences – planet Earth

Research infrastructure

Environmental sciences – planet Earth

ACTRIS - Aerosols, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure

ACTRIS coordinates operations in several European countries where aerosols, clouds and trace gases are observed and studied. ACTRIS Sverige is the Swedish node, which includes several measuring stations.

Aerosols, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) is a distributed European research infrastructure that measures aerosols, clouds and reactive trace gases in the atmosphere – from the surface of the Earth to the stratosphere.

To understand the links between human impact and natural processes in the atmosphere and biosphere, long-term quality-controlled and standardised measurements are needed. The purpose of ACTRIS is therefore to produce high-quality, comparable data about physical, chemical and optical characteristics of short-lived, climate-impacting air pollution, and to make these data accessible openly and efficiently.

The issues addressed – such as air pollution and climate change – are global, and observations therefore have to be made across borders and in different climate zones. ACTRIS Sverige contributes with five stations that cover a great range of ecosystem, climate and air pollution gradients, from Skåne in the south to Svalbard in the north.

The European research infrastructure ACTRIS has been included on the roadmap of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) since 2016, and has been an ESFRI landmark since 2021. ACTRIS is currently in an implementation phase, with the goal of forming an ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) in 2022 and being fully operational in 2025. ACTRIS’ European organisation safeguards the collection of calibrated, standardised and quality-controlled observation data at the different national nodes, and is responsible for making these data accessible.

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