Hegyhátsál

General

Hegyhátsál tall tower greenhouse gas monitoring station consists of a 117 m tall TV/radio transmitter tower owned and operated by Antenna Hungária Corp. and meteorological instrumentations, gas analyzers operated by the Hungarian Meteorological Service. The tower is located in a rural environment, in a fairly flat region. Instrumentation is mounted on the tower at four elevations: 10 m, 48 m, 82 m, and 115 m. The region is as free from direct anthropogenic influence as it is possible in the densely populated, highly industrialized Central Europe. The tower is surrounded by mixed agricultural fields and forest patches, characteristic for extended region. Department of Meteorology, University of Eötvös Loránd, Budapest, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Nuclear Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences also participate in the monitoring and research activity performed at the station. The primary aim of the infrastructure is to monitor the atmospheric GHG budget and the GHG exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere. Existing instrumentations consist of an automated gas chromatograph for the monitoring of CH4, N2O and SF6 mixing ratios at 96 m elevation, CO2 analyser for the monitoring of atmospheric CO2 mixing ratio (10 m, 48 m, 82 m, 115 m), two eddy covariance systems (3 m and 82 m) for the monitoring of CO2 exchange between the surface and the atmosphere, sampler units for whole air samples (96 m) and for specific 14C measurements (10 m, 115 m). CO2 mixing ratio measurements were started in 1994, CO2 flux measurements in 1997, while non-CO2 GHGs have been measured since 2006. The station has a dedicated internet line for instrument control and data transfer. The station participated in AEROCARB, CHIOTTO, CarboEurope, CarboEurope-IP and IMECC EU supported projects, as well as in several bilateral international research projects.

Infrastructure and facilities

Measurement data of the above instrumentation are available for visiting scientists. New equipment can be installed in agreement with the owner of the tower. Technical assistance to the operation of the instruments and scientific contribution to the interpretation of the measurements will be provided. In the past most of the external users deployed their instruments at the station and controlled them via internet, while the technical maintenance was provided by the station’s staff. Scientific evaluation of the results were performed jointly. Staff is also willing to take and ship air samples for external users.

 References based on Hegyhátsál observationsHegyhátsál, adótorony

  • Haszpra, L., Barcza, Z., Bakwin, P. S., Berger, B. W., Davis, K. J., Weidinger, T., 2001: Measuring system for the long-term monitoring of biosphere/atmosphere exchange of carbon dioxide. J. of Geophysical Research 106D, 3057-3070.
  • Barcza, Z., Haszpra, L., Kondo, H., Saigusa, N., Yamamoto, S., Bartholy, J., 2003: Carbon exchange of grass in Hungary. Tellus 55, 187-196.
  • Haszpra, L., Barcza, Z., Davis, K., Tarczay, K., 2005: Long term tall tower carbon dioxide flux monitoring over an area of mixed vegetation. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 132, 58-77.
  • Haszpra, L., Barcza, Z., Hidy, D.,Szilágyi, I., Dlugokencky, E., Tans, P., 2008: Trends and temporal variations of major greenhouse gases at a rural site in Central Europe. Atmospheric Environment 42, 8707-8716.
  • Barcza, Z., Kern, A., Haszpra, L., Kljun, N., 2009: Spatial representativeness of tall tower eddy covariance measurements using remote sensing and footprint analysis. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 149, 795-807.
  • Haszpra, L., Barcza, Z., 2010: Climate variability as reflected in a regional atmospheric CO2 record. Tellus 62B, 417-426. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0889.2010.00505.x
  • Haszpra, L., Ramonet, M., Schmidt, M., Barcza, Z., Pátkai, Zs., Tarczay, K., Yver, C., Tarniewicz, J., Ciais, P., 2012: Variation of CO2 mole fraction in the lower free troposphere, in the boundary layer and at the surface. Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics 12, 8865-8875, www.atmos-chem-phys.net/12/8865/2012/, doi:10.5194/acp-12-8865-2012