Additional research programmes and supporting activities at Mace Head

Major intensive field research activities at Mace Head have included the UK Community Research Programme of the Natural Environment Research Council: Atmospheric Chemistry Studies in the Oceanic Environment (ACSOE), which centred its ground based measurements at the station over the periods June - August 1996 and April - May 1997 for two of its consortia : OXICOA (OXIdising Capacity of the Ocean Atmosphere) and MAGE ( Marine Aerosol and Gas Exchange). Several UK university research groups involving between 40 - 50 scientists together with a German group (University of Heidelberg) spearheaded by the School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, UK, under the scientific leadership of Prof. Stuart A. Penkett and under programme manager Dr. William T. Sturgess participated in the field research activities.
 
Mace Head has also been host to the first international workshop, involving some 12 laboratories from North America and Europe, for the field intercomparison of measurement techniques for atmospheric mercury species in ambient air and precipitation in September 1995. Since then, continuous total gaseous mercury measurements being taken at Mace Head as a function of air mass and meteorological conditions are being analysed.
 
The normal array of meteorological parameters are being continuously recorded , together with UV radiation data (UV-A : 320-400nm; UVR : 280-400nm; and visible radiation : 400-700nm).