Arcturus Greenhouse Gas Baseline Monitoring Data from Central Queensland

Geoscience Australia and CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research jointly commissioned the 'Arcturus' atmospheric monitoring station in central Queensland in July 2010. The station measures concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, water vapour, isotopic signatures of CO2, and meteorological parameters like wind speed and direction. Data is intended as a prototype baseline for monitoring areas targeted for commercial-scale carbon capture and geological storage.

Use Cases

• Modeling local variations in CO2 and CH4 based on the described meteorological and gas concentration data
• Analyzing contributions of natural and anthropogenic sources to greenhouse gas variability in a mixed-use region
• Establishing a high-quality atmospheric reference baseline for future site-specific carbon storage monitoring
• Testing and validating atmospheric dispersion models like CSIRO's TAPM using the described instrument readings

Strengths

• Data is collected from a purpose-built, remotely operated prototype baseline monitoring station
• Measures multiple key parameters including CO2, CH4, water vapour, isotopic signatures, and meteorological data
• Station is located in a region with diverse potential emission sources including cropping, grazing, coal mining, and gas production

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Data files are in PDF and HTML formats, which may require extraction for analysis

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia and CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research

Collection Method

Measurements from wavelength scanned cavity ringdown instruments and meteorological sensors at the Arcturus station

Time Range

Data collection began in July 2010; specific temporal coverage is not detailed

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 01:30:56.896640; freshness should be verified

Geography

Central Queensland, Australia, in a region supporting cropping, grazing, cattle feedlotting, coal mining, and gas production