KASLAB - high-mountain greenhouse gas laboratory
The Kasprowy Wierch greenhouse gas laboratory (KAS, 49°14' N, 19°59' E, 1989 m a.s.l.) is the only high-mountain station in Central and Eastern Europe that continuously measures atmospheric concentrations of the main greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide and methane). It was located in the building of the High-Mountain Meteorological Observatory, belonging to IMWM-PRI, built in 1938. The observatory is a unique research institution in Poland. Its location in undisturbed environment qualifies it to the network of reference climate stations of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Atmospheric greenhouse gases measurements were started in 1994 within the framework of cooperation between the AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, Heidelberg University in Germany and the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management - National Research Institute. Currently, apart from continuous monitoring of CO2 and CH4 concentration in the atmosphere, there are conducted measurements of isotopic composition of CO2 (13CO2 and 14CO2), measurements of water isotopic composition in daily precipitation samples collected at Kasprowy Wierch (2H, 18O, 17O, 16O) and measurements of tritium content in integrated, monthly precipitation samples.
The information collected at the KASLAB station are used on the national ground in didactic activity and research work carried out by Department of Physics and Applied Computer Science, University of Science and Technology, and other national units (master's and doctoral theses, research grants, commissioned projects), as well as on the international ground through participation in European Union projects carried out under subsequent framework programmes (METHMONITEUR, CARBOEUROPE-IP, IMECC, GHG-EUROPE, INGOS, EUROHYDROS, MEMO2). Moreover, the data obtained at the KASLAB station are used in subsequent editions of the Polish government report to the Conferences of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
