Study of air quality at the Massimo Rinaldi refuge (Terminilletto)
The Terminillo Observatory is located at the “Massimo Rinaldi” refuge (Municipality of Micigliano, Rieti) on the summit of Mount Terminilletto (2108 m above sea level), one of the six peaks of the Terminillo mountain massif in the Reatini Mountains of the central Apennines. Far from sources of anthropogenic pollution and outside the atmospheric boundary layer, the Terminillo Observatory represents a station remoIt is ideal for studying background air pollution, long-range transport of pollutants, climate change and air quality. High-altitude mountain ecosystems are sensitive and reliable indicators of climate change through climate-dependent phenomena such as biodiversity loss, habitat degradation, decreased snow and glaciers, melting permafrost, deterioration of resource quality freshwater water bodies and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions as well as the effects negative on air quality.
In this context, they are fundamental le long-term measures of the Terminillo Observatory in response to climate change in order to better understand the processes and ongoing phenomena as well as improving knowledge of high-altitude environments and ecosystems.
Thanks to the agreement (July 2023) between the Institute on Atmospheric Pollution of the CNR and the Italian Alpine Club of the Rieti section (CAI), a useful collaboration for the advancement of scientific knowledge in the field of studies on the quality of high altitude air, which constitute a precious asset for the meteorological, climatic and environmental surveillance of this part of the Italian territory south of Europe and in the Mediterranean area, which are regions recognized as “hotspots” both in terms of climate change and air quality.
Specifically, the main scientific activities in the Terminillo Observatory will be aimed at:
- Monitor micropollutants with particular reference to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and emerging.
- Study the production and destruction of ozone and its precursors (nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds including carbonyl compounds such as formaldehyde).
- Study the chemical and physical processes of exchange of atmospheric pollutants at the air/snow interface by combining atmospheric and micrometeorological observations with the chemical, physical and optical determination of snow.
- Evaluate emissions of climate-changing gases in response to climate change.
- Analyze the mountain environment through Earth Observation products to evaluate the changes taking place.
- Study the dynamics and seasonality of snow cover in an Apennine site.
- Study the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosol.