ACTRIS Ares (EARLINET & In-situ)¶

The actris_ares gatherer downloads European aerosol remote sensing lidar profiles (EARLINET) and in-situ aerosol optical, physical, and chemical data from the ACTRIS research infrastructure.

Overview¶

Provider: ACTRIS Data Centre / EARLINET
Official Research Infrastructure Website: actris.eu
ACTRIS Data Portal: actris.nilu.no
ARES Lidar Portal: ares.actris.eu
REST API Endpoint: api.actris-ares.eu
Coverage: European ground-based observation stations
Observations: Lidar profiles (backscatter, extinction), in-situ optical/chemical/physical properties
Authentication: None required (open public access, no registration required)
Output Format: NetCDF-3/4 or NASA Ames ASCII formats

Supported Data Types¶

Data Type Code	Name	Description
`optical` / `aer_opt`	Aerosol Optical Properties	Lidar backscatter/extinction or in-situ scattering/absorption
`lidar_prof`	Lidar Vertical Profiles	Range-resolved aerosol optical profiles
`aer_phys`	Aerosol Physical Properties	Particle number concentration and size distribution
`aer_chem`	Aerosol Chemical Composition	Major ions, organic/elemental carbon
`trac_gas`	Reactive Trace Gases	NO₂, SO₂, O₃, CO in-situ surface concentrations
`voc`	Volatile Organic Compounds	Hydrocarbons and oxygenated VOCs

Parameters Reference¶

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`station`	`str`	required	Station 3-letter code (e.g. `"gra"`, `"waw"`, `"hpb"`)
`product` / `data_type`	`str`	`"optical"`	Data type code
`start_date`	`str`	required	Start date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format
`end_date`	`str`	required	End date in `YYYY-MM-DD` format
`matrix`	`str \\| None`	`None`	Sample matrix (e.g. `"pm10"`, `"pm2.5"`, `"pm1"`, `"air"`)
`format`	`str`	`"netcdf"`	Output format: `"netcdf"` or `"nasa_ames"`
`ewls`	`list[int] \\| None`	`None`	Emission wavelengths in nm (e.g. `[355, 532, 1064]`)
`file_types`	`list[str] \\| None`	`None`	Lidar product codes: `"b"` (backscatter), `"e"` (extinction)
`levels`	`list[str] \\| None`	`None`	Processing levels (e.g. `["1.0"]`, `["2.0"]`)
`overwrite_cache`	`bool`	`False`	Force re-download even if cached

Python API Usage¶

from gathering import Task

# Task 1: In-situ Optical properties
task_insitu = Task.actris_ares(
    station="gra",
    data_type="aer_opt",
    matrix="pm10",
    start_date="2023-06-01",
    end_date="2023-06-05",
    format="nasa_ames",
)

# Task 2: EARLINET Lidar profiles
task_lidar = Task.actris_ares(
    station="gra",
    data_type="lidar_prof",
    start_date="2023-06-01",
    end_date="2023-06-05",
    format="netcdf",
)

CLI Usage¶

gathering actris_ares \
  --station gra \
  --product optical \
  --matrix pm10 \
  --start_date 2023-06-01 \
  --end_date 2023-06-05 \
  --format nasa_ames

YAML Configuration¶

# ==============================================================================
# ACTRIS ARES — In-situ Aerosol, Trace Gases & Remote Sensing (Lidar)
# ==============================================================================

logging:
  level: INFO

tasks:
  # Task 1: In-situ Aerosol Optical Properties (nephelometer, aethalometer)
  - source: actris_ares
    station: "gra"                      # Station code ('gra' for Granada, 'hpb' for Hohenpeissenberg)
    data_type: "aer_opt"                # Options: aer_opt, aer_phys, aer_chem, trac_gas, voc, lidar_prof
    start_date: "2023-06-01"
    end_date: "2023-06-05"
    matrix: "pm10"                      # Sample matrix ('pm10', 'pm2.5', 'pm1', 'air')
    format: "nasa_ames"                 # Data format: 'nasa_ames' or 'netcdf'
    overwrite_cache: false

  # Task 2: Aerosol Remote Sensing Lidar Profiles
  - source: actris_ares
    station: "gra"
    data_type: "lidar_prof"
    start_date: "2023-06-01"
    end_date: "2023-06-05"
    format: "netcdf"
    overwrite_cache: false

Download Directory Structure¶

/workspace/.cache/gathering/actris_ares/
└── gra/
    ├── aer_opt/
    │   └── ES0005R.20230601000000.20240101000000.nephelometer...nas
    └── lidar_prof/
        └── gra_20230601_20230605_lidar_profile.nc