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Description
TORCH1 provides ground-based atmospheric measurements from July and August 2003 at Writtle College, Essex. The dataset includes concentrations of ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, peroxides, radicals, and aerosol properties. It was collected to support the study of polluted boundary layer air and inform future air quality policy.
Use Cases
Modeling regional tropospheric chemistry based on measured concentrations of ozone precursors and radicals.
Analyzing aerosol composition and size distribution impacts on air quality.
Studying the transport of polluted air using 5- and 10-day back trajectory data.
Validating atmospheric chemical mechanisms against measured organic compound and radical budgets.
Strengths
Contains a detailed suite of co-located measurements for over 20 atmospheric chemical species and properties.
Data originates from a focused NERC thematic research programme, suggesting rigorous collection standards.
Many instruments are part of the Universities Facility for Atmospheric Measurement (UFAM), indicating calibrated equipment.
Limitations
Critical metadata is missing: row count, file size, column names, license, and author are all listed as unknown or null.
The dataset's temporal coverage is limited to a two-month campaign in 2003.
Spatial coverage is confined to a single ground site in Essex, UK.
Provenance
Source
Centre for Environmental Data Analysis
Collection Method
Ground-based instrument measurements collected during the TORCH1 field campaign.
Time Range
July-August 2003
Freshness
Last updated metadata on 2026-07-08, though the underlying data is from 2003.
Geography
Writtle College, near Chelmsford, Essex, UK
License information is not provided. The dataset appears on multiple UK Data Service entries with identical descriptions but sparse metadata.