{"id":"5e4eba96-7efa-4920-9586-af9b0203dc31","uri":"https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/5e4eba96-7efa-4920-9586-af9b0203dc31","type":"infrastructureRecord","title":"BT Tower: London Urban Atmospheric Pollution Observatory","description":"The purpose of the BT Tower London Observatory is to measure greenhouse gases and atmospheric pollutants and their fluxes (how they change over time) in an urban environment.  This long-term, high-precision monitoring provides valuable atmospheric chemistry data: to increase scientific understanding of atmospheric chemistry; to improve predictive models for air quality and greenhouse gas reduction; and to evaluate the effectiveness of policies to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gases.","metadataDate":"2025-04-09T09:24:38","resourceIdentifiers":[{"code":"https://catalogue-staging.ceh.ac.uk/id/4a48e542-d468-4053-87e1-1b1168ae68f2"},{"code":"https://catalogue.ceh.ac.uk/id/5e4eba96-7efa-4920-9586-af9b0203dc31"}],"capabilities":"The BT Tower Observatory provides long-term, high-precision, continuous measurement of airborne GHGs and pollutants.  By 2022  the measurement suite will comprise: carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), ethane (C2H6), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) (all UKCEH) as well as nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) (Univ. York / NCAS).   The eddy-covariance measurement system used at the BT tower consists of: a 3-D ultrasonic anemometer (R3-50, Gill Instruments; Reading Univ.); a dual quantum cascade laser absorption spectrometer (Aerodyne; UKCEH); an infrared gas analyser (LiCOR-7000, UKCEH); and a fast NOx analyser (Univ. York).  The anemometer is mounted on top of a lattice tower located on the roof of the BT tower giving an effective measurement height of 190m above street level.  The gas analysers are located a few floors below the roof, in an air conditioned room.  Air is sampled from ca. 0.3 m below the anemometer head at 20–25 L min-1 using a 45m long Teflon tube of OD 9.53mm (3/8'').  The observatory is also used for intensive measurement campaigns (for example in 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2021).","lifecycle":"The BT Tower Observatory was first established in 2006.  Its capabilities have developed and expanded since then, for example eddy-covariance measurements became routinely available from 2017.  UKCEH and BT have agreed a 10-year licence-to-occupy the Tower, to be reviewed in 2032.  The Observatory's core instrumentation was upgraded in 2021, providing a 10-year lifespan, also to be reviewed in 2032.  Other instrumentation is on a flexible replacement rota.","uniqueness":"The BT Tower Observatory is the only urban flux measurement site in the UK where urban emissions are being tracked long-term through direct measurement.","partners":"UKCEH partners for the BT Tower observatory are: National Centre for Atmospheric Science (Atmospheric Measurement and Observation Facility); University of York; University of Reading.","locationText":"BT Tower, Fitzrovia: 190 m above Central London.","access":"Research and observation outputs from the BT Tower Observatory are freely available via the Centre for Environmental Data Analysis: CEDA.  Physical access to the BT Tower Observatory, including capacity to add further instruments, is limited by space constraints: contact Eiko Nemitz, UKCEH Edinburgh.","fundingSources":"The BT Tower Observatory is currently funded by: the UKRI Strategic Priorities Fund (Clean Air programme and OSCA); NERC National Capability LTSS (UK-SCaPE programme); plus research project grants.","scienceArea":"Atmospheric Chemistry and Effects","infrastructureScale":"Area, city, farm, habitat","geometry":{"geometryString":"{\"type\":\"Feature\",\"properties\":{},\"geometry\":{\"type\":\"Point\",\"coordinates\":[-0.13883,51.52151]}}","wkt":"POINT(-0.13883 51.52151)"},"infrastructureCategory":{"value":"instrumentedSites","description":"Instrumented sites","infrastructureClass":"Environmental observatories","uri":"http://vocabs.ceh.ac.uk/ri/instrumentedSites"},"infrastructureChallenge":[{"value":"Pollution","uri":"http://vocab.ceh.ac.uk/ri#Pollution"}],"owners":[{"displayName":"Eiko Nemitz","organisationName":"UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology","organisationIdentifier":"https://ror.org/00pggkr55","role":"owner","fullName":"Eiko Nemitz"}],"users":["Data from the BT Tower Observatory are used by:  (1) Researchers interested in urban air quality fluxes;  (2) European Fluxes Database;  (3) Government as independent assessment of the effectiveness of emission reduction measures (e.g. ULEZ; NetZero policies)."],"onlineResources":[{"url":"https://www.ceh.ac.uk/our-science/projects/bt-tower-london-uk-urban-atmospheric-pollution-observatory","name":"Website","function":"website","type":"OTHER"},{"url":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/BT_Tower_2004.jpg","name":"BT tower","function":"image","type":"OTHER"}]}