CAIS-ECAC

Welcome to CAIS-ECAC - Center for Aerosol In-Situ - European Center for Aerosol Calibration and Characterization
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ACTRIS-CF
The Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research InfraStructure - Central Facilities

CAIS-ECAC
Center for Aerosol In-Situ - European Center for Aerosol Calibration and Characterization


Welcome to CAIS-ECAC.


ECAC News
Announcement:
ACTRIS standard procedures for aerosol in-situ measurements January 2024 is public.
Blog/News
Calibration Workshop Schedule
CAIS-European Center for Aerosol Calibration and Characterization
In the frame of the European Research Infrastructure ACTRIS-ERIC, the European Center for Aerosol Calibration and Characterization (CAIS-ECAC) is one of the Central Facilities for the ACTRIS National Facilities and external users worldwide. CAIS-ECAC’s mission is to offer operational support for quality assured and controlled physical and chemical aerosol in situ measurements & sampling, to conduct traceable instrument calibration, and to perform laboratory analysis of aerosol samples. Furthermore, CAIS-ECAC develops and offers Near-Real-Time tools for fast data submission and central quality control.
CAIS-ECAC is a consortium, consisting of seven facilities. The WCCAP (World Calibration Center for Aerosol Physics), PACC (Prague Aerosol Calibration Center), and CCC (Cluster Calibration Center) are responsible for aerosol microphysical and optical aerosol variables. The OCTAC-CC (Organic Tracer and Aerosol Constituents - Calibration Center), ERLAP (European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution), the ACMCC (Aerosol Chemical Monitor Calibration Center) and EMC2 (Element Mass Calibration Center) are in charge of the chemical & elemental aerosol variables.
CAIS-ECAC is a consortium, consisting of seven facilities. The WCCAP (World Calibration Center for Aerosol Physics), PACC (Prague Aerosol Calibration Center), and CCC (Cluster Calibration Center) are responsible for aerosol microphysical and optical aerosol variables. The OCTAC-CC (Organic Tracer and Aerosol Constituents - Calibration Center), ERLAP (European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution), the ACMCC (Aerosol Chemical Monitor Calibration Center) and EMC2 (Element Mass Calibration Center) are in charge of the chemical & elemental aerosol variables.
Announcement
Introduction of the CAIS-ECAC Units
World Calibration Centre for Aerosol Physics (WCCAP)
The WCCAP was founded in 2002 to serve as a competence center for in-situ physical and optical aerosol measurements as part of the world-wide GAW-program of the WMO. This WCCAP is world-wide unique for the quality assurance of physical and optical in-situ aerosol measurements and station audits to improve infrastructures.
European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution (ERLAP)
ERLAP was founded in 1994 to serve as a calibration facility for measurements of particulate matter and gaseous air pollutants in Europe. Inter-laboratory comparisons have been organized yearly or more for 2 decades. As a service of the European Commission, ERLAP provides support independently of national and private interests, which makes it unique in Europe.
Aerosol Chemical Monitor Calibration Center (ACMCC)
The ACMCC is managed by a consortium of French laboratories, including CNRS (LSCE and LaMP) and INERIS, and is mainly based at LSCE, located south of the Paris region. As part of the quality control procedures, the ACMCC provides a large set of independent co-located on-line/off-line aerosol measurements for chemical, physical and optical parameters. It offers innovation opportunities through the exchange of information between manufacturers and users, the optimization of technological solutions, and the evaluation of new online aerosol chemical analyzers.
Prague Aerosol Calibration Centre (PACC)
The PACC was founded in 2020 as part of ACTRIS Topical Centre for Aerosol In-Situ observations (CAIS/ECAC). It serves for calibration and quality assurance of physical in-situ aerosol measurements and station audits for ACTRIS and for external users. (operational 2021)
Cluster Calibration Center (CCC)
CCC was founded in 2018 to serve as a calibration facility for sub 10 nm aerosol, cluster and ion measurements. It provides instrument-specific calibration services and training. (operational 2021)
Organic Tracers and Aerosol Constituents Calibration Center (OGTAC-CC)
The Atmospheric Chemistry Department of TROPOS hosts the Organic Tracers and Aerosol Constituents - Calibration Centre (OGTAC-CC), which is the first calibration center for these class of compounds worldwide, providing a strong benefit to the aerosol community, as it harmonizes approaches for the chemical analysis of organic particulate constituents.
Elemental Mass Calibration Centre (EMC2)
The EMC2 unit will be hosted in the INFN LABEC laboratory which is devoted to the analysis of the elemental composition of aerosols, environmental samples and cultural heritage by means of analytical nuclear techniques, such as ion beam analysis, besides other field of applications, for instance material science and forensics, and radiocarbon dating with accelerator mass spectrometry. The LABEC laboratory was born in 2003 with the installation of a 3 MV Tandetron particle accelerator and stems from more than thirty years of experience of the research group members with accelerator-related analytical techniques.
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