Taiwan is located downwind of a number of East Asian dust and acid pollutant sources and Southeast Asian emissions from biomass burning. Favorable meteorological conditions throughout the region promote the airborne transport of these - and other - pollutants to Taiwan.
Image Credit: OTT HydroMet
In 2006, the high-elevation Lulin Atmospheric Background Station (LABS) was built to study the transboundary transport of air pollutants and to better understand their impact on Taiwan.
LABS is situated at the top of Mount Lulin, 2862 meters above sea level, at the boundary of the Nantou and Chiayi counties in central Taiwan. The station is operated by the Taiwan Environmental Protection Administration.
Its high altitude means that the station’s readings are not impacted by local pollution arising from domestic sources such as factories and traffic. LABS is also located downwind from the Asian landmass, making it ideally situated for the monitoring of long-range air pollutants originating from that landmass.
LABS has two key objectives: to gain insight into the atmospheric chemistry of precipitation, trace gasses, mercury, aerosols and atmospheric radiation; and, to characterize the long-term variability of regional atmospheric chemistry and radiation.
The station’s team aims to use the data acquired during its work to better understand how the climate is changing and what impact this has on Taiwan.
A complete Kipp & Zonen scientific solar monitoring station was installed in LABS in November 2008.
At the core of the station is a SOLYS 2 sun tracker with a set of highly accurate mounted instruments:
- A CHP 1 pyrheliometer
- Two CMP 21 pyranometers to measure direct, global and diffuse solar radiation
- A CGR 4 pyrgeometer to measure downward infrared radiation originating from the sky
LABS’ optimal geographic location and distinct local climatic conditions have attracted a great deal of international interest. This has led to the station engaging in a number of collaborative projects with organizations from other countries.
Image Credit: OTT HydroMet
This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by OTT HydroMet. Kipp & Zonen is one of OTT HydroMet's strong brands for professional environmental monitoring solutions.
For more information on this source, please visit OTT HydroMet.