Payerne testbed:
• is the principal atmospheric observing station of Switzerland,
• has operational and research surface and upper air measurement systems as parts of several international long-term monitoring networks and research projects, and
• integrates measurement systems located at higher altitudes on the Alps at some distance from Payerne up to 3500 m asl.
The main objectives are:
• monitoring of a vertical atmospheric column on a long-term basis,
• quality assurance of atmospheric measurement systems, and
• validation of the numerical weather prediction models.
The measurements meet the requirements of several international networks (GSN, GRUAN, GAW, BSRN, NDACC, EMEP). The Payerne observatory is also presently involved in several COST projects and has close collaboration relationships with national and international research groups such as:
• COST Action ES1303 - Towards operational ground based profiling with ceilometers, Doppler lidars and microwave radiometers for improving weather forecasts (TOPROF),
• COST Action ES1002 - Weather Intelligence for Renewable Energies (WIRE), and
• EUMETNET – E-PROFILE - Operational use of wind profilers and ceilometers in Europe.
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