Institute of Energy and Climate Research (IEK)

Troposphere (IEK-8)

WCC-NOx

World Calibration Center for Nitrogen Oxides

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) program links worldwide atmospheric observations into a global network to improve our understanding of atmospheric processes and the interactions between the atmosphere, biosphere, and oceans.

The mission of GAW as it is described in its strategic plan is to

Reduce environmental risks to society and meet the requirements of environmental conventions
Strengthen capabilities to predict climate, weather and air quality
Contribute to scientific assessments in support of environmental policy.

This is achieved by

Maintaining and applying global, long-term observations of the chemical composition and selected physical characteristics of the atmosphere
Emphasising quality assurance and quality control
Delivering integrated products and services of relevance to users.

Nitrogen oxides, the sum of nitrogen monoxide and nitrogen dioxide are compounds of biogenic and anthropogenic origin and are among the compounds which are measured. Besides their adverse effects on human health, nitrogen oxides are key components governing atmospheric chemistry.

The monitoring network for nitrogen oxides consists of 160 stations measuring, among them 17 global stations which offer a comprehensive set of measurements and a large observational footprint.

Regional and world calibration centers are important cornerstones in the data quality strategy of GAW. The world calibration center for nitrogen oxides (WCC-NOx) is hosted at our institute.

The Tasks of the World Calibration Center for NOx are

Developing standard operation procedures
Ensuring traceability of standards
Conducting station audits
Participation in round-robin experiments and intercomparisons
Providing training and advice to station scientists and technicians

The WCC-NOx within ACTRIS

The WCC-NOx is part of the pan-European research infrastructure ACTRIS and is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for the implementation and by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV) for the operation. The WCC-NOx is also responsible for the quality assurance of NOx measurements in ACTRIS within the Topical Centre CiGas.