EU project to track changes in atmosphere over Europe
Setting up an integrated, pan-European programme to monitor air quality and the composition of the atmosphere is the goal of a new EU-funded project. The project will help scientists from around the world follow the changes to the atmosphere above Europe, from the boundary layer, which we breathe and which extends to around 1km above the ground, right up to the stratosphere. Information on air quality and climate comes from a range of sources, including satellites, ground-based measurements and instruments fixed to aeroplanes. However, the range of measurement techniques used, combined with differences in the format of resulting databases, means that this immense body of information is rarely exploited to the full. The GEOMON (Global Earth Observation and Monitoring of the Atmosphere) project aims to harmonise this wealth of knowledge, making it easier for scientists to study it. The project partners will focus in particular on greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane; reactive gases and pollutants; atmospheric aerosols; and ozone. Specifically, the project will bring together the main European networks of surface- and aircraft-based measurements of atmospheric parameters and integrate these measurements with data from satellites. They will also support these networks in their ongoing data gathering efforts and develop new methodologies to use their data for satellite validation and interpretation. The GEOMON project will contribute to Europe's work to both the Montreal Protocol (to reduce ozone levels in the upper atmosphere) and the Kyoto process on climate change. The project also forms part of Europe's contribution to the international GEOSS programme (Global Earth Observation System of Systems). The European Commission is a member of the Group on Earth Observation (GEO), as are a number of EU Member States. The aim of the GEO is to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems over the next 10 years. GEOMON brings together 38 partners from the EU, Norway, Russia and Switzerland and is coordinated by France's Laboratory of Environmental Science and Climate. It is funded under the Sixth Framework Programme's Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems Theme and will last for four years.