China to launch the world’s first complex atmosphere observation system

World
Europe

As the world is being ravaged by some of the worst typhoons, China is about to launch the world's first atmospheric observation system.

The Atmospheric Profiling Synthetic Observation System (APSOS), led by the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), is capable of monitoring the atmospheric composition, such as temperature, wind, ozone and carbon dioxide levels through remote sensing, said CAS on its website.

It will help researchers understand how the atmospheric layer affects solar and human activity and provide valuable data for atmospheric environment monitoring, meteorological disaster prediction and space security.

The laser beams emitted by the APSOS /Photo via iap.cas.cn

The system will be installed in Yangbajain cosmic rays monitoring station, in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, before October as it has finished debugging in the Huainan Institute of Atmospheric Physics, eastern Anhui Province, said Lyu Daren, head of the APSOS and professor at the CAS' Institute of Atmospheric Physics on Monday.

It will be operational after at least one month of testing, Lyu said.

Lyu Daren, head of the APSOS and professor at the CAS' Institute of Atmospheric Physics /Photo via atmos.pku.edu.cn

Located at 4,300 meters above sea level, the station is home to lots of research, including those on cosmic rays.

"The system is the world’s first complex atmospheric monitoring equipment, which can continuously monitor multiple atmospheric components in a specific location. It can monitor up to 110 kilometers," he added.

Funded by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the program was launched in 2012.

Lyu said data collected by APSOS will be a worldwide achievement.

"Its data, together with data collected on the ground and through satellites from other countries, can support the world’s atmospheric research."

APSOS is composed of five laser radars, a millimeter-wave cloud radar, a terahertz superconducting radiation spectrometer and telescopes, and can detect precise air quality through multiband detection technology, CAS explained.

The laser beams emitted by the APSOS /Photo via iap.cas.cn

"The Yangbajain cosmic rays monitoring station was chosen as the site for APSOS due to its high altitude," said Lu Hong, a professor at CAS' Institute of High Energy Physics.

The terahertz spectrometer is capable of penetrating the air to detect remote targets, according to CAS.

It also said the system will receive simultaneous changes in the atmospheric components of an area, and can also capture transient atmospheric processes through high temporal resolution.

Source(s): Global Times