Hateruma

The Hateruma Global Environment Monitoring Station is located at the southern end of Japan. The station was established in 1992 to monitor the long-term trends of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in Eastern Asia.

Hateruma Island, a small sub-tropical island and part of the Sakishima Islands, is located at more than 1000 km from mainland Japan. The wind is northerly to northeasterly in autumn-winter and southerly to southeasterly in spring-summer. The annual mean wind speed at the top of the tower (46.5 m above sea level) is about 8 m/s. The surface temperature is about 24ºC and the annual rainfall is about 1900 mm. Hourly measurements of halocarbons have been performed at Hateruma since 2004. A fully automated preconcentration/gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer system measures ~50 trace gases, including halocarbons.

Station designation: 

HAT

Coordinates: 

24.0607º N, 123.8094º E

Station elevation: 

10 meters above sea level

Air intake elevation: 

37 meters above ground level

Station PI: 

Takuya Saito (saito.takuya@nies.go.jp)

Station manager: 

Motoki Sasakawa (sasakawa.motoki@nies.go.jp)

Station funding: 

Halocarbon observations at Hateruma are made as a part of the global environmental monitoring program of National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES).