The "O. Vittori" observatory at Mt. Cimone (44°12' N, 10°42' E, 2165 m a.s.l.), is a research facilities managed by the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) in collaboration with the Italian Air Force (CAMM). It is the only high mountain station for atmospheric research both South of the Alps and the Po basin: it represents a strategic platform to study the South Europe and Mediterranean basin troposphere and the anthropogenic emissions from the Po basin. At this platform, co-located atmospheric ICOS and ACTRIS observations exist.
Continuous measurement programmes for aerosol properties (physical/optical properties), trace gases (GHG and reactive), meteorological parameters are carried out at Mt. Cimone. The most part of these measurements are ICOS-, ACTRIS-, or INGOS- compliant in terms of equipment, materials and SOP.
CMN-PV offers access to state-of-art technical and scientific equipment at the "O. Vittori" observatory. In particular, two sampling systems designed for trace gases and aerosol particles are available at the station. Both the sampling heads are equipped with de-icing systems. The aerosol sampling system is equipped with T and RH monitoring. Multiple inlets to the sampling systems are available for the external users (1/4" for gases, 1/4", 1/2" and 3/4" for aerosol). The terrace (about 40 m2) is equipped for hosting external experimental activity and a small chemistry laboratory permits a clean treatment of collected samplings. One slot is available indoor for hosting one guest instrument for remote sensing.
Air-conditioning systems are available at the laboratories where instruments are located together with devices for protection by power surges and lightning. 11 kW of electric power are available at the site for scientific instrumentations. Fast internet connection allows real/time data delivery and remote control of acquisition systems. The "O. Vittori" observatory is equipped for overnight stay (max 5 people). Also a small kitchen is available to be used by users.
| Component | Parameter | Instrument | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerosol and weather | Aerosol scattering coefficient (450, 550 and 700nm) | TSI 3563 Integrating Nephelometer | Operative | |
| Aerosol absorption coefficient (635 nm) | Thermo Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer (MAAP) | Operative | ||
| Aerosol attenuation coefficient (370, 470, 520, 590, 660, 880 and 950 nm) | Aethelometer AE-33 | Operative | ||
| Aerosol size-distribution (10-800 nm) | TROPOS SMPS | Operative | ||
| Aerosol size-distribution (2-40nm) | TBD | Implementation (2022) | ||
| Negative ions size-distribution (0.8-40nm) | TBD | Implementation (2022) | ||
| Positive ions size-distribution (0.8-40nm) | TBD | Implementation (2022) | ||
| Aerosol size-distribution (0.3 - 32 μm) | GRIMM 1108 | Operative | ||
| Aerosol size-distribution (0.5 - 20 μm) | TBD | Implementation (2022) | ||
| Online aerosol chemistry | TBD | Implementation (2022) | ||
| CCN number concentration at different supersaturation degree and size distribution | TSI CCN-200 | Operative | ||
| IN counts | Custom made sampling system (since 2022 a new system TBD) and lab analysis | Implementation (2022) | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.10.027 | |
| Present weather and visibility detector | TBD | Implementation (2022) | ||
| Aerosol attenuated backscatter, cloud base height, aerosol layer, PBL height | Wavelenght: 1064 nm. Profile up to 15 km. | Implementation (2022) | ||
| Disdrometer | OTT Parsivel 2 | Operative | ||
| In-situ meteorological variables | Vaisala WMT-700, PTB-210, HMP-155 | Operative | ||
| Aerosol Layer Height/PBL Height | Celiometer Lufft 15K - Nimbus | Operative | ||
| Trace gases | CO2, CH4, CO | Picarro G2401 | Operative | |
| N2O, CO | Picarro G5310 | Implementation (2023) | ||
| O3 | Thermo 49i | Operative | ||
| NO, NO2 | Thermo 42iTL | Operative | ||
| SO2 | Thermo 43iTLE | Operative | ||
| O3 secondary calibrator | Thermo 49iPS | Operative | ||
| NOx calibration facility | Thermo 146i and 1160 with NPL-certified NO standard | Operative | ||
| VOC/OVOC | TBD | Implementation (2022) | ||
| VOC, SF6, F-gases | Gas Chromatographic-Mass Spectrometric System equipped with a unit for pre-concentration and continuous and automatic sampling (MEDUSA GC-MS) | Operative | ||
| Anthropogenic VOCs, SF6, F-gases | Agilent 6850–5975 GC–MS equipped with the UNITY2-Air Server2 auto-sampling/pre-concentration device | Operative | ||