• 47.054°N 12.958°E 3106 m a.s.l.

Observational platform

Austria

• Bundesanstalt für Geologie, Geophysik, Klimatologie und Meteorologie (GeoSphereAustria)

https://www.sonnblick.net/

• Elke Ludewig
  Facility PI (since 1 May 2016)

The Sonnblick Observatory (SBO), owned and operated by GeoSphere Austria, is a high alpine climate and environmental research station at 3,106m. It is located on the main Austrian Alpine ridge in the core zone of the Hohe Tauern National Park. The SBO has been collecting climatological data since its establishment in 1886. In the 1980s, the SBO was connected to the general power grid, thus making the station nearly emission-free and enabled it to start environmental, air chemistry, aerosol measurements. The SBO is embedded in numerous international monitoring programs such as GTS, GAW, GCW, BSRN, GCOS, NDACC, NDMC, MONAIRNET, eLTER, etc.. The SBO is manned 24/7 all year round with at least 2 technicians. The infrastructure is state of the art and open to everyone. In the framework of ACTRIS the SBO takes over tasks as National Facility for Aerosol insitu, Cloud insitu and takes over the agendas of the Topical Center Unit ECCINT (European Center for cloud ambient intercomparison).

The Sonnblick Observatory is oriented to the research program ENVISON (Environmental research and monitoring Sonnblick), which is renewed every 5 years by a scientific advisory board. The SBO is a climate and environmental research station. ENVISON RELEVANT RESEARCH TOPICS:
1) Observation and understanding of climate change including its natural and anthropogenic
driving forces in Austria and the Alpine region (Baseline Climate Monitoring Station of
Austria) as well as of climate impacts on high mountain environment in the Alps.
2) Innovative environmental monitoring with the aim to establish high quality time series on changes of trace compounds in the environment, to distinguish anthropogenic and natural influence on concentration levels (as well as on processes and biogeochemical
cycles) with special focus on the atmosphere, the cryosphere and the biosphere.
3) Observation and understanding of outstanding events as well as of their impact on humans and the environment.