CLAP

Atmospheric aerosols have been identified as essential climate variables by international programs, notably GCOS (Global Climate Observing System) and GAW (Global Atmosphere Watch). The objective of CLAP is to contribute to the monitoring of this variable based on regular measurements. The observations of this service must be used to evaluate in a context of climate change

        - the long-term evolution of certain important sources of aerosol, 
        - the long-term evolution of the aerosol load for different size classes and for different chemical species, 
        - possible retroactions of the aerosol towards the climate through its optical and cloud condensation core properties.
        This service completes the national SNO landscape for monitoring atmospheric composition and is integrated into the proposed structure of IR ACTRIS-Fr. CLAP is part of the French contribution to the European Research Infrastructure ACTRIS-ERI, submitted for integration into the ESFRI roadmap. 
        Parameters measured: Aerosols: particle size, number per particle size class, chemical composition on filter (EC-OC Soluble inorganics, optical properties, hygroscopic properties. 
        Location of the sites: The SNO CLAP includes 5 sites at altitudes varying from 1465 m to 5240 m at above sea level, and two lowland sites, located on 4 different continents The high altitude sites can be either in atmospheric boundary layer (CLA) or in free troposphere (TL) depending on atmospheric conditions and  climate. Puy de Dôme, Maïdo, Pic du Midi, Nepal (Khumbu valley at 5079 m), Bolivian Andes Cordillera (at 5240 m), SIRTA, the Perennial Observatory of the Environment (OPE) (high point at almost 395 m between the center of the Paris basin and the Vosges)

        Database: http://ebas.nilu.no

        Network: ACTRIS, GAW