The Izaña Atmospheric Station is located at the Izaña Observatory in Tenerife, managed by the Izaña Atmospheric Research Center, part of the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET). The observatory was inaugurated in 1916 and has carried out uninterrupted meteorological and climatological observations for more than a century.
Situated on a mountain plateau at 2,373 metres above sea level, the station is normally above the local temperature inversion layer and below the descending branch of the Hadley cell. Clean air and clear-sky conditions generally prevail throughout the year, making Izaña an exceptional site for monitoring background atmospheric composition under free-troposphere conditions.
The station performs high-accuracy continuous in situ measurements of long-lived greenhouse gases, including CO2, CH4, CO and N2O. These observations contribute to the ICOS Atmosphere network and build on a long tradition of greenhouse gas monitoring at Izaña, including its contribution to the WMO Global Atmosphere Watch programme.
Izaña also hosts complementary atmospheric research activities based on remote sensing techniques. Its FTIR programme contributes to international networks such as NDACC, TCCON and COCCON, making the observatory a key site for linking surface, column and remote-sensing observations of atmospheric composition.