Research infrastructure for the observation of clouds and aerosol in Cyprus

The presence of aerosol and clouds constitutes one of the highest uncertainties regarding the energy budget of the Earth. Therefore, their continuous observation can help reduce these uncertainties, by providing more information about aerosol-cloud interactions and how these atmospheric components contribute to climate change.

To study the properties of aerosols and clouds, new infrastructure will soon be set up in Cyprus by the Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence, which was recently established through the ‘EXCELSIOR’ H2020 Widespread Teaming Project. Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence is a digital innovation hub for Earth Observation, Space Technology and Geospatial Information, aiming to become the reference centre in the East Mediterranean, north Africa and the Middle East (EMMENA region). The infrastructure will be installed in Limassol, on the south coast of the island. Apart from the fact that the site is less than 2 km from the island’s coastline, this location is extremely important in terms of the regional atmospheric composition, as the air masses affecting the site originate from the surrounding areas of EMMENA, as well as from south-eastern Europe.

Infrastructure to sample aerosol is already represented by a state-of-the-art PollyXT lidar, with measurements being registered continuously since October 2020. By the end of 2023, a similar LACROS multi-instrument platform will be available for the continuous monitoring of clouds and aerosols. This new ground-based remote sensing platform consists of a 35GHz cloud radar, a ceilometer, a microwave radiometer, a Doppler lidar, and a disdrometer. The infrastructure will be integrated into the Cyprus Atmospheric Remote Sensing Observatory (CARO).

An example of the value of the observations about cloud formation and the role of aerosol in the process of cloud formation that will be provided from the site in Limassol, can be reflected in the data collected during the CyCARE campaign, executed between October 2016 and March 2018, during which similar ground-based infrastructure was deployed.  

The authors acknowledge the ‘EXCELSIOR’: ERATOSTHENES: EΧcellence Research Centre for Earth Surveillance and Space-Based Monitoring of the Environment H2020 Widespread Teaming project (www.excelsior2020.eu). The ‘EXCELSIOR’ project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 857510, from the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Directorate General for the European Programmes, Coordination and Development and the Cyprus University of Technology.