Met Gear

The United Kingdom Deriving Emissions linked to Climate Change (UK DECC) network was created in 2012 to measure atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHG) and ozone depleting products (ODP) at a number of tall telecommunication towers, including Ridge Hill (RGL), Herefordshire; Bilsdale (BSD), North Yorkshire; and Tacolneston (TAC), Norfolk. We propose making the tall tower network GHG 'super-sites' with state-of-the-art laser-based instruments, meteorological observables, and facilities to allow additional future NERC-funded, community-based research on site.

High frequency in situ measurements currently provide a backbone for GHG research in the UK and these facilities need investment to ensure they can continue to support future research in the form of augmenting individual field campaigns, interpretation of data from upcoming satellite missions, and advancing our understanding of atmospheric transport and model/measurement uncertainties. The in-situ UK BEIS funded network of tall towers (with the Mace Head (MHD) baseline station in Ireland) also underpins the GHG emissions reporting capability, and the measurement/modelling system in place is currently held as an example of this work for research groups around the world.

This investment will maintain the UK's leading role in this area. Each of the tower sites currently house Picarro instrumentation for measurement of CO2, CH4, CO (TAC, BSD, RGL); GC-multiple detector equipment for SF6 and N2O (TAC, BSD, RGL, MHD), medusa GC-MS instruments for a wide range of GHGs and ODP gases (TAC, MHD).

The existing data are submitted regularly to the global EBAS, CDIAC and WDCGGs databases. We wish to add meteorological measurements on the towers to better understand physical conditions at the sites, as well as use the data to verify modelled meteorological data used within inverse models to calculate gas emissions.

As part of a harmonised network, we wish all of these measurements to be within WMO and ICOS recommendations. At each site we wish to include the following: Temperature and humidity profile, with sensors approximately every 20 m from 30 m.a.g.l. to the tallest inlet. Barometric pressure at each of the sampling inlets at each site. 2D sonic anemometers at each of the sampling inlets, with two anemometers at the highest inlet.