ICOS Cities Barcelona is an associated urban greenhouse gas monitoring activity focused on the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona. It is led by ICTA-UAB and is connected to the ICOS Cities framework, which supports the development of urban greenhouse gas observations and services for climate action.
The Barcelona network is designed to capture the heterogeneity of the metropolitan area by placing online gas analysers in locations representing different urban and peri-urban land uses. The monitoring approach includes measurements of greenhouse gas concentrations such as CO2, CH4 and CO using Picarro analysers.
The ICTA-UAB station, located on the rooftop of the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona campus, has been operational since 2021. Public information from the research group describes additional stations in the metropolitan network, including sites associated with forest, coastline, urban park, agricultural and transport-influenced environments.
This activity should be understood as an associated urban observation platform rather than one of the six official ICOS Spain stations listed on the national network page. Its role is nevertheless highly relevant for linking ICOS Spain with urban greenhouse gas monitoring, emissions research and the broader ICOS Cities data ecosystem.