Arcturus (ARA): Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Measurements for Carbon Storage Baseline

An atmospheric greenhouse gas monitoring station began operation in July 2010 near Emerald, Queensland. The station is part of a collaborative project between Geoscience Australia and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research to establish a high-precision monitoring facility in a priority geological carbon dioxide storage region. Its primary purpose is to field test new monitoring technology and demonstrate best practice for regional baseline atmospheric monitoring.

Use Cases

• Establishing regional atmospheric baselines for carbon storage projects based on continuous GHG measurement.
• Field testing new greenhouse gas monitoring technology as described in the project's primary purpose.
• Quantifying typical background variations in greenhouse gas levels to detect anomalies near storage sites.
• Analyzing the influence of local activities like cropping, pasture, and coal operations on GHG signals.

Strengths

• Station began operation in July 2010, providing a multi-year time series.
• Site selection was based on regional atmospheric modelling and stakeholder consultation for a high-priority storage region.
• Station location is described as secure, accessible, and not subject to flooding, supporting data continuity.

Limitations

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

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network, from a collaborative project between Geoscience Australia and CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research.

Collection Method

Continuous measurement from a high-precision atmospheric monitoring station.

Time Range

Data collection began in July 2010.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 19:28:03.796715; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Arcturus, 50 km southeast of Emerald in the Central Highlands, Queensland, Australia.