Alpine High Monitoring Station in Belluno Dolomites of Italian Eastern Alps

The high-altitude mountain monitoring station of the Institute for the Dynamics of Environmental Processes (IDPA) of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) is located in the Italian Eastern Alps at Col Margherita in the Dolomites above Belluno (2550 m a.s.l.). Set up in 2011 as part of the GMOS project (2010-2015) the Col Margherita site (MRG) was part of a network of 40 remote stations globally distributed between the northern and southern hemisphere for the study of atmospheric mercury. In 2017 an ozone monitor was installed and the equipment upgraded thanks to funds from the Italian National Project (NextDATA, 2012-2018) and improved collaboration with other research groups. Additional field and laboratory equipment for the study of atmospheric pollutants in line with the objectives of the ERA-Planet iGOSP project (2017-2020) will be acquired. This project aims to improve and strengthen the networks observing mercury and persistent organic pollutants. Measurements of mercury and ozone in the atmosphere, mercury and other metals, POPs, ?18O and ?D in precipitation will be carried out regularly in the framework of the project. These activities will be used to develop QA/QC protocols to improve the intercomparability/reproducibility of environmental data. The MRG observatory is equipped with an automatic weather station (AWS) for the main meteorological parameters (T, Pa, RH, WS, WD, rainfall depth) and its high-altitude location, allows the study of the long-range transport of numerous air pollutants and their deposition in precipitation. This is because, for many months of the year, especially in winter, the atmospheric boundary layer is below the altitude of the station. The site is available and ready to participate in projects, such as high-altitude climate monitoring, for the study of species that have an impact on climate change (CO2, CH4, BC). We are also ready to host instrumentation from other research institutions.