The Puy de Dôme Microphysics and Chemistry Station is part of the Observatoire du Physique du Globe de Clermont Ferrand (OPGC) and run by the Laboratoire de Météorologique Physique (LaMP). The main objectives of the LaMP are focused on studying the interaction of aerosols, clouds and radiation. The Puy de Dôme (altitude 1465 m) station, located in the Auvergne region in the centre of France, has been developed and equipped in order to provide year-round monitoring of aerosols and gases, along with pertinent atmospheric parameters, and to contribute to a better understanding of relationship between aerosols, cloud droplets and ice.

1. Research interest and particular competences 2. Geographical information 3. Meteorological information 4. Instrumentation / Monitoring activities 5. Specific information 6. Institution in charge 7. Contact person 8. Images	download PDF version
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1. RESEARCH INTEREST AND PARTICULAR COMPETENCES

The Puy de Dôme (altitude 1465 m) station, located in the Auvergne region in the centre of France, has been developed and equipped in order to provide year-round monitoring of aerosols and gases, along with pertinent atmospheric parameters, and to contribute to a better understanding of relationship between aerosols, cloud droplets and ice. The Puy de Dôme is characterised by frequent formation of clouds at the summit which makes the station an ideal place for cloud studies. This station is completed by a below-cloud station (Opme) located at 700 m a.s.l.

Field studies in natural clouds are very rare and this is the main reason for which the set up of a microphysical and chemistry station at the top of the Puy de Dôme is truly unique. The study of all these processes requires the knowledge of the amount of the redistributed species after their wash-out, deposit and photo-dissociation by cloud and radiation processes. All such processes are strongly dependent on the particle distributions of cloud droplets and aerosols. The estimation of the influence of the liquid and solid phases requires chemical measurements in natural clouds both within the gas phase and within the liquid or solid phases. This estimation is used to validate (for the liquid phase) and develop (for the solid phase) some parameterization modules which can be included in large scale transport models.
New developments at the station include nanoparticle measurements and a comprehensive study of the biological content (bacteria and fungi) of cloud droplets.

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2. GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

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3. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION

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4. INSTRUMENTATION / MONITORING ACTIVITIES

Click here for an overview of the available instrumentation.

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5. SPECIFIC INFORMATION

a) URL of field site:

http://wwwobs.univ-bpclermont.fr/atmos/pdd/visitepuydedome/accueil.htm

b) Policy in relation to data availability and data access:

The data base is available upon request. Acknowledgment required. 

c) Access to the facility:

The Puy the Dôme station is accessible by road all year round. From mid-october till April , the road is closed to general public and a 4-WD is required to get to the summit. It is located at about 15 km to the west of Clermont-Ferrand, the capital of the Auvergne. Clermont-Ferrand has an international airport, a train station, and can be reached by car from Paris (A71: 3h30), Toulouse (A 75:4h), Bordeaux (RN 89: 6h) and Lyon (A 72: 2h).

d) Fee for using the facility:

No access fee. Consumable cost (travel and electricity to be considered)
Accommodation is possible (beds, kitchen) but it is not a 4-star hotel&

e) Scheduled scientific activities at the site:

The scientific activities are performed both within EU funded and national projects.

f) Association to national, European and/or international networks:

Association with EMEP and GAW is currently under discussion.

The Puy de Dôme microphysical and chemistry station was equipped with financial support of: 
- The Institut National des Sciences de l'Univers (INSU) which is an institute of the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- the French Ministry of the Environment 
- the Auvergne District Administration 
- the Observatoire de Physique du Globe de Clermont-Ferrand and the Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique (La.M.P.) which is associated with the CNRS. Both structures depend on the Université Blaise Pascal (U.B.P.) of Clermont-Ferrand.

g) Indication on specific issues for which collaboration is sought:

Field engineers and technician will be available at the station.
The Puy de Dôme is an ideal place for the study of clouds. The different inlets developed by LaMP can be connected to a series of instrumentation. In particular, the use of an aerosol mass spectrometer behing CVI and/or Interstitial inlet could be of great interest. In addition, collaboration with aerobiologists and organic chemists would be a great interest to the scientific activities at the station. 

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6. INSTITUTION IN CHARGE

The Puy de Dôme microphysics and chemistry station is part of the Observatoire du Physique du Globe de Clermont Ferrand (OPGC) and run by the Laboratoire de Météorologique Physique (LaMP). The main objectives of the LaMP are focused on studying the interaction of aerosols, clouds and radiation. The research activities defined within this framework are: 
- Performing experimental studies and developing new analysis methods and measurement techniques for aerosol and cloud characterizations and radiation measurements in order to validate existing modelling tools.
- Understanding the physico-chemical processes of clouds and developing parameterisations for their incorporation into models of greater scale.
- Modelling the dispersion of gas and/or aerosol plumes on a meso-scale to evaluate the impacts of anthropogenic emissions on the evolution of the atmospheric composition.
- Modelling the radiative interactions involving water vapour and clouds within the atmosphere and developing and testing parameterisations of cloud characteristics derived from satellite and airborne radiometric data.

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7. CONTACT PERSON

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8. IMAGES

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