The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory or ATTO (in Portuguese: Observatório de Torre Alta da Amazônia) is a scientific research tower in the Amazon rainforest with a height of 325 metres (1,066 ft).
Video Amazon Tall Tower Observatory
Description
The measurement tower is a joint project between Germany and Brazil coordinated by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, the Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research, INPA (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia), and the University of the State of Amazonas, UEA (Universidade do Estado do Amazonas). The cost of 8.4 million Euros was shared about equally by the German and Brazil partners.
The site is distant from any human presence, about 150 kilometres northeast of Manaus, "far from disturbances caused by human influences." The tower, South America's tallest measurement tower, is used to study the climate in the largely untouched rainforest surrounding it. It measures greenhouse gases, aerosols and weather data and provides information about a roughly 100 square kilometer area around the tower. The tower is part of a three-tower scientific complex. The two shorter towers (260-foot) are located several hundred yards from the ATTO. They have been operational since 2010.
The joint project is dedicated to the exploration of the rainforest biosphere and how it responds to global warming. According to the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), ATTO allows to reach new levels of measurements regarding the greenhouse gases and the complex interactions between the land surface and the atmosphere. Furthermore, the measuring tower will contribute to gather and assess "climate-relevant chemical and physical processes over the Amazon" and thus create new principles for climate protection.
ATTO's counterpart "ZOTTO" (Zotino Tall Tower Observation Facility) is located in the Siberian Taiga.
Maps Amazon Tall Tower Observatory
History
The project was launched in 2009. Building of the tower began in 2014 and was completed in 2015.
See also
- Zotino Tall Tower Observation Facility (ZOTTO), a similar tower in Siberia
References
External links
- Photo essay: Scientists build a tower as tall as the Chrysler building in the middle of the Amazon, PBS.org
- Amazon Tall Tower Observatory on The Skryscraper Center
- At 1,066 Feet Above Rainforest, A View of the Changing Amazon on Yale Environment 360
Source of article : Wikipedia
0 Comments
