Member of EARLINET
& AERONET networks
At CUT, Limassol (34.675ºN, 33.043ºE, 10m above sea level) a 2-wavelength Raman lidar is used to perform continuous measurements of atmospheric aerosols in the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) and the lower troposphere since 2010. For the period May 2010 to March 2012 the lidar records daily measurements between 08:00 UTC and 09:00 UTC in order to be consistent with Terra MODIS overpass and to perform continuous measurements for the retrieval of the aerosol optical properties over Limassol. From April 2012, when the Raman channel added to the system, lidar records expanded not only for the night measurements but for more than an hour during daytime. The Lidar transmits laser pulses at 532 and 1064 nm simultaneously and collinear with a repetition rate of 20 Hz. This system is based on a small, rugged, flashlamp-pumped Nd-YAG laser with pulse energies around 25 and 56 mJ at 1064 and 532 nm, respectively. Elastically backscatter signals at two wavelengths (532nm, 1064nm) are collected with a Newtonean telescope with primary mirror diameter of 200 mm and an overall focal length of 1000 mm. The field of view (FOV) of the telescope is 2 mrad. The lidar covers the whole range starting at the full overlap of the lidar (300 m) up to tropopause level. So far, four channels are detected, one for the wavelength 1064 nm, two for 532 nm and one for 607nm. The system follows the quality assurance test according to the EARLINET protocol and is officially member since September 2011.
The CIMEL sun-sky radiometer is part of the AERONET Global Network (http://aeronet.gsfc.nasa.gov). The CIMEL is an automatic Sun-sky scanning filter radiometer allowing the measurements of the direct solar irradiance and sky radiance at wavelengths; 340, 380, 440, 500, 670, 870, 1020 and 1640 nm. The CUT_TEPAK AERONET station is located in the old town of Limassol, 500 m from the sea. The sun-photometric station is operated since April 2010 by the Laboratory of Remote Sensing.
The Microtops II (solar light Company, USA) hand-held sun photometer measures the attenuation of the direct solar irradiance and the transmittance from which AOD of the atmosphere is derived. For measurements with better accuracy the sun photometer is mounted in a tripod.
A cabled weather station with a versatile sensor suite that combines our rain collector, temperature and humidity sensors and anemometer , 40′ (12 m) anemometer cable, solar radiation sensor, UV sensor, and sensor mounting shelf. A 100′ (30 m) cable connects the sensor suite to the console. Rain Vantage Pro2 incorporates a tipping-bucket rain collector in the Integrated Sensor Suite (ISS) that measures 0.01” for each tip of the bucket. A metric adapter can be installed to measure 0.2 mm for each tip of the bucket. The Vantage Pro2 could measure the following parameters: Wind/ Temperature/ Apparent Temperatures/ Wind chill/ Heat Index Temperature/Humidity/Sun/Wind (THSW) Index/ Humidity/ Dew Point