CNR IMAA Atmospheric Observatory (CIAO)

Created February 26, 2026

Updated on February 26, 2026

approved

CIAO is one of the most advanced observatory for ground based remote sensing in the Mediterranean Basin and in Europe, consisting of a combination of state-of-the-art systems capable to provide high-quality long-term observations of aerosol and cloud properties. CIAO has been recently upgraded with the aerosol in-situ, trace gases remote sensing and greenhouse gases insitu components thus complementing the high-quality long-term remote sensing observations of aerosol and cloud properties gained over more than two decades of research activity. The CIAO mission is to improve the knowledge of atmospheric processes and their role in meteorological phenomena, climate change and air quality. Research activities of CIAO revolve around the long-term observations of aerosols, clouds, trace gases and greenhouse gases within the European research infrastructures ACTRIS and ICOS, as well as around the participation of CIAO in reference observational programs and networks on a global scale, such as GRUAN and GALION. The observational strategy is organized to provide quality assured measurements for satellite validation and model evaluation and to fully exploit the synergy and integration of the active and passive sensors for the improvement of the atmospheric characterization. CIAO has a key role in ACTRIS, hosting 4 of its Central Facilities: the Service Access Management Unit (SAMU) of the Head Office; the Aerosol High power Lidar (AHL) unit of ACTRIS Centre for Aerosol Remote Sensing (CARS), the Aerosol Remote Sensing (ARES) unit of the Data Center (DC); and the Data Discovery, Virtual Access and Services (DVAS) unit of the ACTRIS DC. Furthermore, CIAO is also an ACTRIS National Facility, equipped with 1 Observational Platform covering 4 of the 6 observed components (i.e. aerosol remote sensing – operative; cloud remote sensing operative; aerosol in situ; reactive trace gases remote sensing). Starting from 2023, CIAO has also started the process to be included in the ICOS RI as a class 1 continental atmosphere station, thus taking an important step for the expansion of the ICOS atmosphere network in Italy and Europe, also strengthening its presence in the Mediterranean basin. The CIAO cutting-edge equipment, combined with its geographical position (in the Mediterranean Basin, but on a mountain, far from big cities) makes this observatory a perfect site for investigating different aerosol types and atmospheric processes and for setting up new experiments on these topics. In this view, CIAO can provide transnational and virtual access to its facilities/installations, both fixed (referred to below as CIAO Fixed Facility) and mobile (referred to below CIAO Mobile Platform), making available a complete and complementary portfolio of cutting-edge research infrastructure equipment and services in the field of atmospheric dynamics and chemistry. Moreover, thanks to the experience gained and capitalized by its staff in the study of aerosol and clouds in a context of RIs, CIAO is also able to offer training services on specific topics in the field of atmospheric studies. Shortly, the CIAO Fixed Facility comprises the whole CIAO observational and analysis capability. Apart from the different observational capability of the ACTRIS NFs for aerosol and clouds remote sensing, aerosol in situ and ICOS class 1 site, (plus the ongoing trace gases remote sensing ACTRIS component), CIAO offers many additional instrumentations that could be useful for the users. First of all, CIAO is equipped with 1 out of 3 ACTRIS reference aerosol lidars which could be used for calibration, test and comparisons even for private sector. In addition, an optical laboratory to test lidar components and a modular lidar laboratory to test several lidar configurations (e..g HSRL, fluorescence, temperature) are available. Radiosounding station is also available at CIAO, which is operating in compliance with GRUAN for which CIAO is an official reference station. Several additional in-situ instrumentations (and corresponding observations) are available at CIAO fixed facility like, but not limited, to a total carbon analyser, a 14-stage impactor, a multi-metal measurement system, an automatic and continuous system for pollen measurements, a CDRS for isotopic measurements in CO2 and CH4. In addition, CIAO Fixed Facility makes available a plethora of instruments for a complete chemical characterization of aerosol samples collected on filters ranging from metals, organic carbon and elemental carbon, semi-volatile organic compounds, anions and cations, as well as all facilities for aerosol sample preparation (e.g. microwave digester, extraction and evaporation system).

Tags:

Item URL

https://data.d4science.org/ctlg/ITINERIS-HUB/ciao_-_cnr_imaa_atmospheric_observatory

Basic

Abbreviation

CIAO

Research Infrastructure

ACTRIS
ICOS

Resource Providers

https://ror.org/024ye7w89

Webpage

www.ciao.imaa.cnr.it

Marketing

Description

Logo

https://ciao.imaa.cnr.it/wp-content/uploads/risorsa-4-400px.png

Multimedia

https://ciao.imaa.cnr.it/observatory/instruments/ancillary/all-sky-camera-asi-16/

Classification

Access Types

Virtual
Remote
Physical
Mail-In

Access mode

Peer Reviewed