Description of instruments on ground at Paphos airport and Limassol

Sun photometers

SSARA

The SSARA sun photometer measures the optical thickness as function of wavelength and the polarization of the sky radiance at 500 nm. Measurements are performed every 2 seconds.

SSARA was built and is operated by the Meteorological Institute of the LMU Munich (Germany).

CIMEL

CIMEL sun photometers measure the optical thickness and the sky radiance as function of wavelength. They are employed world-wide in the AERONET network.

The CIMEL employed during A-LIFE is operated by the Grupo de Óptica Atmosférica of the Universidad de Valladolid (Spain) and has the additional capability to measure the optical thickness during night (lunar photometer).

POLIS lidar

POLIS (POrtable LIdar System) measures the vertical profiles of the backscatter and extinction coefficient and the linear depolarization ratio at 355nm and 532nm.

POLIS was built and is operated by the Meteorological Institute of the LMU Munich (Germany).

Trace gas monitor

The trace gas monitor is provided by NOAA and operated by the University of Vienna (Austria).

It consists of a Aerolaser AL5002 Ultra Fast Carbon Monoxide (CO) analyzer and a TECO 43C SO2 analyzer.