A prototype atmospheric monitoring station named Arcturus was commissioned in July 2010 by Geoscience Australia and CSIRO Marine & Atmospheric Research in central Queensland. It measures concentrations of CO2, methane, water vapor, isotopic CO2 signatures, and meteorological parameters like wind speed and direction. Data from this station, located in a region with agricultural and industrial activities, is intended to serve as a reference for monitoring carbon capture and geological storage projects.
Use Cases
- Modeling local variations in CO2 and CH4 based on meteorological data and point source emissions.
- Assessing contributions of natural and anthropogenic sources to greenhouse gas fluxes in a mixed-use landscape.
- Establishing baseline atmospheric conditions for future site-specific monitoring of geological CO2 storage.
- Evaluating the performance of remote monitoring stations in subtropical environments.
Strengths
- Data includes multiple greenhouse gas species (CO2, CH4) and their isotopic signatures.
- Station is located in a region with diverse potential emission sources (cropping, grazing, coal mining, gas production).
- Commissioned by two major Australian scientific organizations (Geoscience Australia and CSIRO).
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Last updated 2026-05-05 01:23:56.879005; freshness should be verified.
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Data collected by a remotely operated atmospheric monitoring station using wavelength scanned cavity ringdown instruments.
- Time Range
- Data collection began in July 2010.
- Geography
- Central Queensland, Australia.