SHARE (Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment) Network

The Italian Climate Observatory 'O. Vittori' (ICO-OV), is a research infrastructure managed by the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (ISAC) of the National Reaserach Council (CNR). It is the only high mountain station for atmospheric research both South of the Alps and the Po basin and it represents a strategic platform to study the chemical-physical characteristics and climatology of the South Europe and North Mediterranean basin. The ICO-OV is part of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) program by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the Station at High Altitude for Research on the Environment (SHARE) project by EV-K2-CNR.At ICO-OV, continuous monitoring of climate-altering compounds (trace gases and aerosol), solar radiation as well as meteorological parameters are carried out since 1996. The ICO-OV activity can help to better monitor the changes of atmospheric composition, to investigate the processes influencing climate and to assess the contribution of short and long-range air mass transport to atmospheric variability. ICO-OV is part of several international networks devoted to the long-term monitoring of atmospheric properties and climate change study. Data from ICO-OV are also used to calibrate and verify data from satellites and model simulations.