During the summer 2021, the CAO team has been working hard to prepare the new CAO station at Troodos mountains (34°56’N 32°51’E, >1800 m a.s.l.).

The Cyprus Atmospheric Observatory has received 4 palettes with close to 500 kg of new instrumentation, containing two full sets of state-of-the-art air quality gas analysers.

Assistant professor Efstratios Bourtsoukidis and PhD student Emeric Germain-Paulienne are joining The Cyprus Institute and CAO this January. Their research will focus on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – a new domain of study for CAO. 

The laboratory container for Troodos station was delivered and secured on Friday the 13^th of November 2020. State of the art atmospheric composition measuring instruments will soon follow!

PhD student Yunsong Liu and technical research specialist Pierre-Yves Quehe have been measuring carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄) concentrations all over Cyprus using a high-end PICARRO instrument, onboard the institute’s car, to better assess regional and local GHG fluxes.

Between the 17^th and 30^th of June 2020, and as part of the EMME-CARE project, the CAO team with the collaboration of the USRL and LSCE performed the first AirCore campaign for Cyprus.

CAO and USRL have worked together to integrate ozonesondes, usually tethered to stratospheric balloons, into UAVs for vertical and horizontal mapping of ozone concentrations. Early tests have shown the ability to follow the morning boundary layer shift as well as detecting stratospheric ozone intrusions.

As part of the ACTRIS Community / IMP Kick-Off Meeting taking place in Larnaca (Mar 2-6 2020), the community of European scientists visited CAO Agia Marina Xyliatou station. Director Prof Jean Sciare, associate research scientist Dr Michael Pikridas and postdoctoral fellow Dr Florin Unga presented the team and activities carried out by CAO.