TEAMx Observational Campaign (TOC) backbone

The main TEAMx Observational Campaign (TOC) will span one complete year from 15th September 2024 to 15th September 2025. The focus of the campaign is the European Alps, with target areas in the Inn Valley (Austria), the Adige Valley (Italy), the Alpine Crest between these two, and the Alpine Foreland in Germany.

The TOC backbone, illustrated in the map below, consists of instrumentation from many institutions that is placed such that the various scientific objectives covering a multitude of phenomena on different scales (see TEAMx White Paper) can be addressed. Detailed considerations about the target areas and measurement strategy are outlined in the Field Observation Plan.

^{Backbone of the TEAMx Observational Campaign (TOC): Atmospheric profilers and eddy covariance stations which will be deployed during the TOC in addition to existing instrumentation. Details subject to change.}

The campaign will include two Extensive Observation Periods (EOPs), one in winter (20 January – 28 February 2025 ) and one in summer (16 June – 25 July 2025).

A considerable amount of instrumentation will be brought into the target areas during the campaign. Ground-based in situ, remote sensing and aircraft measurements will provide detailed information about the three-dimensional structure of the mountain boundary layer: a dense network of meteorological and air quality monitoring stations will inform about near-surface conditions (in valleys as well as at crest-top); numerous eddy covariance stations over a range of surface types will provide information about near-surface turbulent exchange processes; and atmospheric profilers (including lidars, ceilometers, microwave radiometers and radars), radiosoundings and aircraft measurements will offer insights into the structure of the mountain boundary layer and various processes including cross-valley circulations, mountain venting, convection initiation and long-range transport.