Revealing the secrets of aerosol-cloud interactions
Organized by
The Goal
The Cloud-AerosoL InteractionS in the Helmos background TropOsphere (CALISHTO-HELMOS Campaign) is a synergy between the PANhellenic infrastructure for Atmospheric Composition and climatEchAnge (PANACEA) Project focusing on WorkPackage 9 (WP9): Aerosol Cloud Interactions (ACI) and the European Research Council (ERC) Pyrogenic TRansformations Affecting Climate and Health (PyroTRACH) Project.
The main goal of the CALISTHO Campaign is to gain a better understanding of the processes involved in the formation and evolution of mixed-phase clouds. This is accomplished using a synergy of in situ and remote sensing instrumentation located at a unique and optimal high-altitude locations for targeted studies of aerosol-cloud interactions. We also seek to improve the remote sensing algorithms used to retrieve cloud microphysical properties, in regions of challenging topography.
Campaign Partners
The Location
The Helmos Hellenic Atmospheric Aerosol & Climate Change station (or simply Helmos Mt) is operated by the National Center for Scientific research “Demokritos” (NCSR-Demokritos). The Aroania (or Helmos) mountainous region is a unique and optimal location for targeted studies of aerosol-cloud interactions. Aroania, situated in the Achaea Prefecture of Greece and is the 3rd highest mountain in the Peloponnese (summit at 2340 m amsl.) and hosts a NCSR-Demokritos monitoring station situated at 2314 m amsl. A unique characteristic of the Helmos High Altitude Monitoring Station (2314 m, 42°N 05' 30'', 34°E 14' 25'') is that it is a typical free tropospheric background site with very low influence from the surface polluted layers (Collaud Coen et al., ACP, 2018) and lies in a cross-road of different air masses (continental, Saharan, long-range biomass burning, volcanic, etc.).
