CIAO main upgrade: building up an ACTRIS-compliant aerosol in situ laboratory

Abstract

This paper describes the aerosol in situ laboratory at the CNR-IMAA (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - Istituto di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale) Atmospheric Observatory (CIAO) in southern Italy, outlining its configuration and detailing each instrument and sampling line. CIAO has been collecting observations of atmospheric components since 2000. Initially, the activities revolved around aerosol lidar; radiosounding and cloud remote sensing observations were added over the years and made CIAO a leading atmospheric observatory in the Mediterranean region. In 2018, a significant upgrade was started to enhance the observational capability of the observatory by adding aerosol in situ instruments, with the objective to push new research boundaries for aerosol particle characterization and multi-instrument combined approaches. Here, we describe each technical implementation step for building up an extensive aerosol in situ laboratory compliant with ACTRIS (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace gases Research Infrastructure) standard operating procedures. Starting from scratch, the long path was initiated in 2018 with the design of the laboratory in terms of instruments, container layout, inlets, and sampling lines, as well as required time and interactions with experts in the field. Reporting on all the details regarding the final solutions implemented at CIAO, this paper will be, for new aerosol in situ laboratories, a practical guide for the implementation of the aerosol in situ observational site.