Atmospheric Greenhouse Gases Concentration Terceira Island
A set of greenhouse gases are analyzed at NOAA labs, among which are carbon dioxide, methane, carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide. The CO2 data series is the longest obtained in Portuguese territory and clearly shows the increase of this gas observed over the last 35 years.
Atmospheric CO2 monitoring requires great care, both for choosing the sampling site, either in their own sampling, as this can be easily contaminated by local emissions (vegetation, vehicles, fires, houses, etc.) and also the operator himself.
Since 1979, Portugal carries out an air sampling program for the analysis of greenhous gases in the atmosphere.
Samples are collected by IPMA technicians at Terceira Island, currently next to the Serreta lighthouse.
The samples analysis are performed by NOAA labs in Boulder under the Cooperative Global Air Sampling Network and the results are available at ESRL (NOAA - Earth System Research Laboratory) and at GAW (WMO - World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases) websites.
