CiGas European Centre of Expertise

ACTRIS (www.actris.eu) is a European research infrastructure producing high-quality data and services on short-lived atmospheric constituents and on the processes leading to the variability of these constituents in natural and controlled atmospheres. ACTRIS integrates, harmonises and distributes data sets, activities and services provided by Central Facilities (CF), including CiGas (https://www.actris.eu/topical-centre/cigas), and National Facilities (NF), including observation and exploration platforms in Europe and at selected global sites, located in 18 European countries. National facilities are responsible for acquiring high-quality, reliable and accurate data to document the distribution and 4-D variability of aerosols, clouds and trace gases and their complex interactions. ACTRIS comprises eight Central Facilities (CF) – six Topic Centres (TC), the Data Centre (DC) and the Head Office (HO) – which are essential to ensuring compliance with standard operating procedures and data analysis.

CERI EE has been selected as the European Topic Centre for Reactive Trace Gases In Situ Measurements (CiGas). The key mission of CiGas is to provide operational support to ACTRIS National Facilities (NFs), operational and exploratory platforms (e.g., GAW, EMEP networks), which conduct continuous long-term measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), highly oxidised organic compounds and nitrogen oxides (NOx).

The metrology associated with reactive trace gases requires a good knowledge and performance assessment of complex measuring instruments, a harmonisation of measurement protocols and guaranteed metrological traceability of the data with the associated uncertainties to ensure high-quality data. CiGas has therefore been given the responsibility of assessing and optimising the measurement methods, providing protocols for instrument implementation or data validation, training operators, and identifying future needs in the field of reactive trace gases while continuing to develop innovative methods in partnership with instrument manufacturers.

The VOCs targeted by CiGas IMT NE include a wide range of more or less reactive species, with different interests and which are divided into several families: non-methane hydrocarbon compounds (NMHC) including terpene compounds, mainly monoterpenes, oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs). Nitrogen oxides (NOx) mainly comprise two species: nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).