Some of today’s most important environmental concerns relate to the composition of the atmosphere. The increasing concentration of the greenhouse gases and the cooling effect of aerosol are prominent drivers of a changing climate, but the extent of their impact is often still uncertain.
At the Earth’s surface, aerosols, ozone and other reactive gases such as nitrogen dioxide determine the quality of the air around us, affecting human health and life expectancy, the health of ecosystems and the fabric of the built environment. Ozone distributions in the stratosphere influence the amount of ultraviolet radiation reaching the surface. Dust, sand, smoke and volcanic aerosols affect the safe operation of transport systems and the availability of power from solar generation, the formation of clouds and rainfall, and the remote sensing by satellite of land, ocean and atmosphere.
To address these environmental concerns there is a need for data and processed information.
MACC-III (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate – Phase III) was the last interim stage in the development of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). Its overall institutional objective was to function as the bridge between the series of developmental precursor projects - GEMS, PROMOTE, MACC and MACC-II - and the operational Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) for 2015-2020, the period covered by the European Union’s multi-annual financial framework.
MACC-III provided continuity and refinement of the atmospheric services provided by the predecessor projects. Its continued provision of coherent atmospheric data and information, either directly or via value-adding downstream services, are for the benefit of European citizens and helps meet global needs as a key European contribution to the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) and the encompassing Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS). Its services covered:
• regional air quality and global transport of atmospheric pollutants;
• climate forcings;
• stratospheric ozone and UV radiation;
• solar-energy resources;
• emissions and surface fluxes.
