ROLINET

Project title:

ROMANIAN LIDAR NETWORK

General description:

The Romanian LIdar NETwork represents an initiative of the consortium to concentrate all avilable resources an to exploit new opportunities in order to establish a well-equipped, well-trained and well-recognized network for environmental researh based on lidar technologies. The mission of this network is not only to operate within European and global networks of the same type, but to act as nuclei for a possible lidar network in SE of Europe. ROLINET will be the first network of five lidar systems in Romania, optimized for continuous monitoring of vertical distribution of aerosols in the PBL and lower troposphere and use of the information for:

  • research for aerosol characteristics and dynamics, locally and regionally;
  • integration into similar European and worldwide networks, participation at GAW and GEOSS;
  • rapid detection of atmospheric intrusion due to natural and anthropogenic hazards;
  • prognosis elaboration for local and regional dispersion and transport;
  • functional impact and risk evaluations in urban and metropolitan regions of economical growth.

The novelty and in the same time the complexity of the project consists in the creation, for the first time in Romania and in SE of Europe, of a lidar network able to provide data with national coverage, using self-developed lidar systems. During the implementation of this project, new competitive products will be obtained (first Romanian lidar system will be patented) and also new services such as: population and decision makers alerting in case of natural and technological hazard, air quality prognosis in the regions of the five lidar systems.

Duration of the project:

  • 2008-2011

Funding:

  • National funding

Partners:

  • National Institute of Research and Development for Optoelectronics;
  • The Romanian Meteorological Service;
  •  The POLITEHNICA University of Timisoara;
  •  “Al. I. Cuza” University of Iasi;
  •  Babes- Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca Romania – Research Center for Major Industrial Accidents Prevention;
  • ESYRO;
  • CRAIM Association Cluj-Napoca Romania.

Results:

1. Technological capacity increase ad facilitation of knowledge transfer related to laser equipment for atmospheric sounding:

  • development of a Romanian lidar system for tropospheric sounding and
  • technological transfer to a specialized company.

2. Creation of a competitive Romanian Network of Lidar Systems to be integrated into EARLINET, GAW, GEOSS:

  • creation of the necessary infrastructure for at least five nationwide stations in Romania and
  • achievement of a monitoring, detection, communication and alarm strategy, locally, regionally and nationally, to be used during major aerosol intrustions into troposphere.

3. Development of an operational system for information, prognosis and warning of pollutant aerosol intrustions in the troposphere, to increase the efficiency and objectivity of decisions in cases of technological and natural hazards.

4. Experimental data for scientific fundament of planetary boundary layer dynamics in Romania.