All potential users of the facility must complete the Information Form for Potential Users and return it to Dr. Andrew Peters well in advance of submitting research proposals. This will then be reviewed by the Facility Steering Committee for comment and/or approval. Also please refer to the Fee Schedule (pdf) for details of current user costs. For further information, please contact Dr. Andrew Peters.

After the AEROCE programme ended in 1998 the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences (BIOS) maintained the Tudor Hill tower and site labs, with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Vetlesen Foundation and the Bermuda Government.

Aerosol filter samples mounted at the top of the tower

Since March 2003, BIOS has been operating the Tudor Hill observatory with funding from NSF's Chemical Oceanography section.

Data and samples that are routinely collected at Tudor Hill include:

1. Wind speed and direction, air temperature and humidity, and rainfall;
2. Weekly aerosol (airborne particle) filter samples;
3. Weekly rainwater samples for chemical analysis.

Please note that these data and samples are archived at BIOS and made freely available to interested researchers.

Other routine sampling activities include:

1. Baseline ("background") clean-air samples for the BIOS Air Quality Programme;
2. Sampling for the Global Atmospheric Passive Sampler project, operated by Environment Canada to monitor persistent organic pollutants on a global scale;
3. Continuous measurements of ozone concentrations in the lower atmosphere and discrete sampling for greenhouse gases for NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory;
4. Continuous data on the aerosol optical depth for NASA's AERONET program;
5. Continuous measurement of solar radiation as part of NOAA's Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN)

A satellite image showing a wind-blown soil dust plume from NW Africa (source: NASA)

Weekly gas samples are collected at Tudor Hill in glass flasks for the Carbon Cycle Greenhouse Gases (CCGG) group of NOAA's Earth System Research Laboratory and analysed for carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane and other greenhouse gases. These data along with data from other sites around the world are used to identify long-term trends, seasonal variability, and spatial distribution of carbon cycle gases, improving understanding of global climate change.