(1 - 31 May 2020)

This campaign is organized as part of the ACTRIS initiative for studying the changes in the atmosphere during the COVID-19 lockdown. ACTRIS, on behalf of its users, asks: Can we quantify the impact of decreased emissions on the state of the atmosphere outside the urban areas, on a time-span of several weeks?

As an active contributor to ACTRIS, EARLINET is running its lidars and intensifies its regular measurements in order to provide a scientifically relevant answer.

The scope of the campaign is twofold:

• to monitor the atmosphere’s structure during the lockdown and early relaxation period in Europe; weekly reports will be provided to ACTRIS and made publicly available on the EARLINET website
• to identify possible changes due to decreased emissions, by comparison to the aerosol climatology in Europe; all findings will be published as part of an extended study.

Here is a map with the participating EARLINET stations:

Are you close to one of the stations (see the coordinates at the Lidar stations page)? In May, look up at the night sky. You will see our laser beams screening the atmosphere.