Introduction
Introduction
The UK SOLAS Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory (16.848N, 24.871W) exists to advance understanding of climatically significant interactions between the atmosphere and ocean and to provide a regional focal point and long-term data context for SOLAS field campaigns. The observatory is based on Calhau Island of São Vicente, Cape Verde in the tropical Eastern North Atlantic Ocean, a region which is data poor but plays a key role in atmosphere-ocean interactions of climate-related and biogeochemical parameters including greenhouse gases. It is an open-ocean site that is representative of a region likely to be sensitive to future climate change, and is minimally influenced by local effects and intermittent continental pollution. Measurements began at the site in October 2006.
Availability of data
| Measurement | Instrument Description | BADC File name |
|---|---|---|
| Meteorological | The instrumentation includes wind direction, wind speed, temperature and relative humidity sensors at two heights, and also measurements of atmospheric pressure and radiation. | cv-met-cambell and cv-met-webdaq |
| Ozone (3m) | Model 49C Photometric Analyser, a UV absorption technique with an accuracy of ±1 ppbV. | cv-tei-o3 |
| CO | Vacuum ultraviolet fluorescence CO analyser (Aerolaser 5001). It is designed for fast response measurements and has a detection limit of <1 ppbv. | cv-aerolaser-co |
| NOxy | Air Quality Design NOxy instrument is a single channel, chemiluminescence NO detector with a photolytic NO2 converter (diode based blue light converter (BLC) – Droplet Measurement Technologies) and a Molybdenum catalyst NOy converter (Thermo Electron Industries). The detection limits for a 10 minute data cycle are ~3 pptV, 6pptV, 3pptV for NO, NO2 and NOY respectively. | cv-noxy |
| Ozone (10m) | Ozone (10m):-Thermo Model 202 UV Absorption manufactured by 2B Technologies. This instrument also has an accuracy of ± 1 ppbV. | cv-2b-o3 |
| VOC | Dual channel gas chromatograph with dual flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) measures C2-C8 Non-methane hydrocarbons and also C2-C4 oxygenated VOC. It works by trapping the VOC out of the air onto a carbon adsorbent trap at -20°C with subsequent desorption at 350°C into a helium carrier flow. This instrument has a time resolution of 1 hour. | cv-dc-gc-fid |
| IO, BrO, NO3 and various other species | Long-path Differential Optical Absorption Spectrometer (LP-DOAS) measures scattered sun light to determine the amount of various trace gases along the 6km light path through the atmosphere. The basic quantity observed by the instrument is the integrated concentration of the trace gas along the light path. | cv-lp-doas |
| IO, BrO and various other species | Multi-Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectrometer (MAX-DOAS) works in a similar way to the LP-DOAS but observes scattered sunlight along different lines of sight, in particular at different elevation angles. | cv-max-doas |
| Halocarbons | Gas chromatograph with mass spectrometric detection | cv-gc-ms |
The BADC is also providing back trajectories from Cape Verde. These are 5 day back trajectories using the 2.5 degree ECMWF archive data. They are daily at 12:00. The endpoint of each trajetory is at 950 hPa above the Observatory as using a lower height can lose trajectories into the ground. Information and help is available for the BADC Trajectory Service
Access to data
| Data | Access rules | How to access | Link to data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cape Verde archive | Restricted to project participants for 1 year following collection and UK SOLAS participants for a further year, see details in the UK SOLAS Data Protocol. Once public, requirements will continue to apply to publications based on Cape Verde data. | Apply | UK SOLAS Cape Verde archive |
| Cape Verde ECMWF back trajectories | Signature of the NERC - Met Office Agreement now or at some point in the past. | Apply | Plotting and download |
To make any of the applications above you need to register as a BADC user. If you have previously registered but forgotten your user ID and/or password, please contact the BADC helpdesk at badc@rl.ac.uk.
Also see the log of changes to the dataset, such as file revisions, at Cape Verde data log page.
Instructions to data providers
Links
Who to contact