Observation Sites

Appalachian State, United States [APP]

Location

• Country: United States
• Latitude: 36.2000° North
• Longitude: 81.7° West
• Elevation: 1100.00 masl
• Time Zone: Local Standard Time + 5.0 hour(s) = UTC

Data

• Available datasets
• Data visualization

Located at 1076 m on a hill overlooking the campus of Appalachian State University (Boone, NC) in the heart of the Southern Appalachian Mountains (36.2° N, 81.7° W), the AppalAIR site housing the APP aerosol system is ideally suited for atmospheric measurements. The southeastern U.S. is home to some of the highest aerosol loading, and specifically biogenically derived organic aerosols, in the country. Continuous measurements from an inlet height of 34 m above the surface of aerosol scattering and absorption, particle number concentration, and chemistry as well as trace gas and meteorological measurements began in earnest in June, 2009. Measurements of aerosol extinction using a cavity ringdown spectrometer and vertical profiles using an aerosol lidar will be added in the future. The facility is manned by two faculty members from the university, with a lot of help from capable students. Due to the rural, high elevation location, the measurements made from AppalAIR are regionally representative of the southeastern U.S. We are currently collaborating with the North Carolina DENR Division of Air Quality, the Mountain Research Initiative, UNC Asheville, and the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network in addition to our collaboration with NOAA ESRL. We welcome further collaborations with other atmospheric researchers from around the world.

Aerosol Mobile and Cooperative Platforms