Exploratory Platforms

ACTRIS Exploratory Platforms are atmospheric simulation chambers, laboratory platforms and mobile platforms that perform dedicated experiments and contribute data on atmospheric constituents and processes following common ACTRIS standards. 

 

Exploratory Platforms can be used for testing, comparing and calibrating instruments, for developing innovative concepts and methods, measurement techniques and novel equipment for use in remote-sensing and in situ applications and for exploring instrument synergies. ACTRIS Exploratory Platforms offer: 

  • Scientific Excellence - Cutting-edge research on atmospheric processes with state-of-the-art instrumentation
  • Uniqueness & Diversity - A versatile range of facilities enabling a wide range of research
  • Access for users - Opportunities to work at outstanding research facilities and with experienced personnel.

 

 

 

Atmospheric Simulation Chambers & Laboratory Platforms

Atmospheric Simulation Chambers are advanced research facilities designed to replicate and study atmospheric processes under controlled near-realistic environmental conditions. These chambers are equipped with sophisticated instrumentation to gain insight into atmospheric processes, and can be sorted in the following categories: indoor chambers with artificial light sources, large outdoor chambers, cloud and aerosol-cloud-interaction chambers.  

Target applications are connected to study on emissions from vegetation, vehicle exhausts and wood burning, transformations of combustion emissions, specific chemical reactions such as kinetic and mechanistic details of gas-phase oxidation processes, single or multi-phase chemical processes, air quality–health relations, cloud processes as well as interfaces and interactions between the atmosphere and other Earth system components such as water, snow, ice and soil.

Laboratory Platforms provide high-technology instrumentation for dedicated investigations of ACTRIS-related atmospheric constituents and processes that do not require an ‘artificial atmosphere’. The target research areas at the chamber and laboratory facilities can be divided into:

  • Radical chemistry, gas-phase compound transformation and photo-oxidant production;
  • Formation and transformation of aerosols, e.g., secondary organic aerosol, aerosol properties, particulate marker compounds, aerosol chemical composition, bio-aerosol interaction with atmospheric components;
  • Cloud microphysics and multiphase transformations;
  • Air pollution effects on human health and ecosystems;
  • Interface chemistry and physics including interactions between atmosphere and biosphere, ocean and cryosphere;
  • Fundamental physico-chemical properties of gas-phase and particulate systems and their interrelationships. 

 

 

 

Mobile Platforms

Mobile platforms range from single mobile instruments to transportable laboratories, which can be deployed in targeted experiments and field campaigns to study atmospheric processes related to aerosols, clouds, and reactive trace gases in regions or meteorological or climatic conditions that are not or only partially covered by the ACTRIS observational network.

Mobile instruments can be land-based in easy-to-transport, robust housings for operation in remote locations or placed on moving platforms like vans, ships, drones, or (tethered) balloons requiring specific lightweight instruments.   

ACTRIS Mobile Platforms can be:

  • Land-Based Platforms for field campaigns applications on land where instruments are usually set up in containers, trailers or other robust housings that can be easily shipped and set up in remote locations.  
  • Shipborne Mobile Platforms for research in maritime environments, where instruments are deployed on research or commercial vessels, either as fixed setup or in removable seaworthy housings or containers.
  • Airborne Mobile Platforms exclusively for light-weight instruments that can be flown on airborne platforms, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and balloon-borne or helicopter-borne platforms. 

 

National Facilities

ACTRIS National Facilities play a key role in supporting long-term observations of atmospheric aerosols, clouds, and reactive trace gases using advanced in situ and remote sensing techniques. Their main task is to deliver high-quality, standardized, and openly accessible data. These facilities include both Observational and Exploratory Platforms, with the latter—and selected Observational Platforms—also offering physical access to state-of-the-art, well-characterized, and versatile infrastructure for scientific research and innovation.

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National Facilities
Observation Platforms

Observational Platforms

ACTRIS Observational Platforms are at the core of atmospheric scientific excellence, providing long-term, high-quality measurements of aerosols, clouds, and reactive trace gases. Using advanced in situ and remote sensing techniques, these platforms collect data from the Earth’s surface up through the troposphere to the stratosphere. All observations follow harmonized and standardized procedures, ensuring quality-controlled instrumentation, operations, and data processing across the network.

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Central Facilities

Central Facilities are vital to the coordination and operation of ACTRIS, providing essential support to National Facilities and delivering specialized services to academia, industry, the public sector, and beyond. They include the ACTRIS Head Office, the Data Centre, and six Topical Centres, each focused on one of the core scientific themes—atmospheric aerosols, clouds, and reactive trace gases—with expertise in either remote sensing or in situ measurement techniques.

Central facilities