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Ann. Geophys., 23, 253-275, 2005
www.ann-geophys.net/23/253/2005/
© European Geosciences Union 2005
SIRTA, a ground-based atmospheric observatory for cloud and aerosol research
M. Haeffelin1, L. Barthès2, O. Bock3, C. Boitel1, S. Bony1, D. Bouniol2, H. Chepfer1, M. Chiriaco1, J. Cuesta1, J. Delanoë2, P. Drobinski3, J.-L. Dufresne1, C. Flamant3, M. Grall1, A. Hodzic1, F. Hourdin1, F. Lapouge1, Y. Lemaître2, A. Mathieu1, Y. Morille1, C. Naud4, V. Noël5, W. O'Hirok6, J. Pelon3, C. Pietras1, A. Protat2, B. Romand1, G. Scialom2, and R. Vautard1
1Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex, France
2Centre d’Etudes des Environnements Terrestre et Planétaire, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, 10-12 Avenue de l’Europe, 78140 Velizy, France
33Service d’Aéronomie, Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, 4, Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
4University College London, Geomatic Engineering, University College London, Gower Str, London WC1E 6BT, UK
5Analytical Services and Materials, Hampton, VA 23666, USA
6Institute for Computational Earth System Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA
Abstract. Ground-based remote sensing observatories have a crucial role to play in
providing data to improve our understanding of atmospheric processes, to
test the performance of atmospheric models, and to develop new methods for
future space-borne observations. Institut Pierre Simon Laplace, a French
research institute in environmental sciences, created the Site Instrumental
de Recherche par Télédétection Atmosphérique (SIRTA), an
atmospheric observatory with these goals in mind. Today SIRTA, located 20km
south of Paris, operates a suite a state-of-the-art active and passive
remote sensing instruments dedicated to routine monitoring of cloud and
aerosol properties, and key atmospheric parameters. Detailed description of
the state of the atmospheric column is progressively archived and made
accessible to the scientific community. This paper describes the SIRTA
infrastructure and database, and provides an overview of the scientific
research associated with the observatory. Researchers using SIRTA data
conduct research on atmospheric processes involving complex interactions
between clouds, aerosols and radiative and dynamic processes in the
atmospheric column. Atmospheric modellers working with SIRTA observations
develop new methods to test their models and innovative analyses to improve
parametric representations of sub-grid processes that must be accounted for
in the model. SIRTA provides the means to develop data interpretation tools
for future active remote sensing missions in space (e.g. CloudSat and
CALIPSO). SIRTA observation and research activities take place in networks
of atmospheric observatories that allow scientists to access consistent
data sets from diverse regions on the globe.
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