CNRIMAA Atmospheric Observatory
CIAO represents a well-established ground-based remote-sensing observatory for the study of weather and climate. The observatory consists of a combination of advanced systems able to provide high quality long-term observations of aerosol and cloud properties. Since 2000, systematic observations of aerosol, water vapour and clouds have been collected. CIAO has been recently upgraded with the aerosol in-situ, trace gases remote sensing and greenhouse gases insitu components thus complementing the high-quality long-term remote sensing observations of aerosol and cloud properties gained over more than two decades of research activity. Currently, CIAO represents one of the largest ground-based remote-sensing station in the Mediterranean Basin and in Europe.
Mission
The CIAO mission is to improve the knowledge of atmospheric processes and their role in meteorological phenomena, climate change and air quality. Given the coverage and global relevance of the processes studied, fundamental aspects of the activities and approaches adopted are the development of internationally recognized Standard Operating Procedures, the open data policy and the full sharing of methodologies and know-how.
Research activities of CIAO revolve around the long-term observations of aerosols, clouds, trace gases and greenhouse gases within the European research infrastructures ACTRIS and ICOS, as well as around the participation of CIAO in reference observational programs and networks on a global scale, such as GRUAN and GALION. The observational strategy is organized to provide quality assured measurements for satellite validation and model evaluation and to fully exploit the synergy and integration of the active and passive sensors for the improvement of the atmospheric characterization.
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INSTRUMENTS
CNR IMAA ATMOSPHERIC OBSERVATORY
MEASUREMENTS
Measurements
RESEARCH
RESEARCH
At CIAO, research activity is conducted in cooperation with the main ground-based observation networks.
PUBLICATIONS
How to reach us
The CNR–IMAA Atmospheric Observatory (CIAO) is located in Tito Scalo, 6 km far from Potenza, Southern Italy, on the Apennine mountains (40.60N, 15.72E, 760 m a.s.l.) and less than 150 km from the West, South and East coasts. The site is in a plain surrounded by low mountains (<1100 m a.s.l.). The observatory operates in a typical mountain weather strongly influenced by Mediterranean atmospheric circulation, resulting in generally dry, hot summers and cold winters. In this location phenomena like orographically-induced effects on cloud formation can be studied. The site is representative of the Mediterranean area and is affected by a large number of Saharan dust intrusions each year.