Ebre Delta

IC3-CAT - picture Ebre River Delta Station IC3-CAT - picture Ebre River Delta Station 4   IC3-CAT - picture Ebre River Delta Station 2

General

The station at the Ebre River Delta Natural Park is located in the province of Tarragona (Catalonia), in northeastern Spain. It is a costal site and the region can be described by a typical Mediterranean climate: high temperatures (25.4 ºC average temperature in July 2012) and drought in summer (29.5 L/m2 rainfall between June and August 2012).
The station was inaugurated in May 2012 and since then it is up and running. It is a site for greenhouse gases, ecosystem and climate observations.

Surroundings

Ebre River Delta Natural Park is one of the largest wetland areas (over 300 km2) in the western Mediterranean region. It is a flat area characterized mostly by rice fields, which is the main agricultural product of the area, and reeds. The station is located next to the Canal Vell biological station where all year round scientists work to preserve the Mediterranean wildlife. The industrial pole of the city of Tarragona is located at 80 km from the station.

Infrastructure and facilities

Equipments to measure meteorological variables (i.e. temperature, pressure, relative humidity, rainfall, and wind speed and direction) are installed on a 10 m a.g.l. height air inlet tower. Air is drawn through 1/2″ dekabon tubing from the measurement level and is dried through a drying system consisting of a refrigerator, cryocooler traps (which operate at a temperature of -71 ºC) and a PD-Series gas dryer (PermaPure). Atmospheric air is analyzed continuously using: (i) a Picarro analyzer G2301 which measures concentrations of CO2, CH4 and H2O; (ii) a modified gas chromatograph (Agilent 6890N) which measures concentrations of CO2, CH4, CO and N2O; (iii) an atmospheric radon monitor (ARMON) for 222Rn measurements. All these instruments are located in a dedicated spacious room where there is enough space to host equipments from other research groups who would like to do measurements at the station.
Since the station is located near the Canal Vell lagoon and close to a reeds area, two 4-components net radiometers are taking measurements over these two different surfaces (water and vegetation). An eddy covariance system over the reeds area is also present. Instruments installed for this system are: fast response 3D sonic anemometer, fast response open-path infrared gas analyzer, barometer and temperature probes.
The station is easy to be reached: it is located at 70 km from Reus airport and at 160 km from Barcelona airport. By car, the highway AP-7 is only 12 km from the station. By public transport, Amposta is the closest train station which is 15 km from the site.
Moreover, the Canal Vell biological station next to the station offers free sleeping facilities for scientists who need to stay overnight.

Access

Access will be granted as soon as IC3 has been accepted by the European Commission as a new partner of InGOS. Proposals can already be submitted via the application form, so that in case of approval measurements can start as soon as possible.