Basic Environmental Observatory - Moussala
Coordinates:
Latitude - 42°11´
Longitude - 23° 35´
Altitude, - 2925 m
Moussala is the highest peak of Rila Mountain and the Balkan Peninsula. The BEO Moussala observatory is located in the Rila National Park in the Central Rila Reserve in South-West Bulgaria, approximately 55 km South-East from Sofia. BEO is accessible from Borovets winter resort, then 40 min by cable car and about 3h or more walking, depending on the season. The only transport to the peak is a cargo lift. Because of the high elevation of the mountain observatory, the site can be considered to be in the free troposphere and far away from the regional contamination for most of the time.
About Us
Basic Environmental Observatory was constructed 1959, destroyed 1983 and reconstructed - 2000.
- Our mission is monitoring and management of high mountain ecosystems. The main fields of research are:
- Complex Environmental Monitoring
- Control of Long Range Radionuclides and Toxic Elements Transport
- Atmospheric Physics
- Atmospheric Chemistry
- Astrophysics
- Sensor and Detector Development
- Complex Measuring Device Design
- Our national and regional objectives in accordance with European policies are:
- Radiological and chemical monitoring of environment in order to control the large-scale and long-term changes and transborder transport of pollutants
- Establish long-term collaborations with other European high mountain observatories
- Improvement of the telecommunication and information system transmitting environmental observation data to the Global Network in real time.
- Improvement of measuring devices and methods
- Further harmonization of quality assurance programs with European standards
- Realization of active exchange of information and specialists all over the world
BEO Moussala is certified by:
ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management No. 3312/0
ISO 14001:2004 Environment Management No. 357/0
Scientists
| Member | Occupation | Phone | |
| Christo Vachkov Angelov | Associate Professor, Ph.D. - Head of the Laboratory | Този имейл адрес е защитен от спам ботове. Трябва да имате пусната JavaScript поддръжка, за да го видите. | 5611 |
| Nina Hristova Nikolova | Assistant Professor, Ph.D. | Този имейл адрес е защитен от спам ботове. Трябва да имате пусната JavaScript поддръжка, за да го видите. | 5618 |
| Stefan Todorov Todorov | Assistant Professor, Ph.D. | Този имейл адрес е защитен от спам ботове. Трябва да имате пусната JavaScript поддръжка, за да го видите. | 5616 |
| Borislav Johanes Pigov | Technician | ||
| Georgi Stefanov Georgiev | Physicist | Този имейл адрес е защитен от спам ботове. Трябва да имате пусната JavaScript поддръжка, за да го видите. | |
| Hristo Stoyanov Nichev | Technician | ||
| Ivan Ivanov Dinkov | Technician | ||
| Kostadin Kirilov Georgiev | Electronical engineer | 5613 | |
| Nikola Serafimov Serafimov | Electronical engineer | ||
| Tako Borisov Mladenov | Laboratory assistant | ||
| Todor Petkov Arsov | Physicist | Този имейл адрес е защитен от спам ботове. Трябва да имате пусната JavaScript поддръжка, за да го видите. | 5614 |
| Valentin Ganchev Ganchev | Laboratory assistant | ||
| Vladimir Marinov Vencharski | Technician | ||
| Vencislava Vencislavova Igova | Technician | ||
Projects
- BEOBAL, FP6, "BEO Centre of Excellence Research Capacity Improvement for Sustainable Environment and Advanced Integration into ERA"
- EUSAAR, FP6, "European Supersites for Atmospheric Aerosol Research"
- ACTRIS, FP7, "Aerosols, Clouds and Trace gases Research InfraStructure Network", Project Number 265254, "Research Infrastructures for Atmospheric Research", 01.04.2011- 31.03.2015)
Collaborations
Nuclear Regulatory Agency (NRA), Sofia
European Commission through the Joint Research Centre (JRC, Ispra), Italy
World Meteorological Organization, Global Atmosphere Watch (WMO, GAW)
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA
Space Environmental and Analysis Network (SEVAN)
Research Centre for Toxic Compounds in the Environment (RECETOX), Czech Republic
Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU),Norway
History
Cosmic ray station Moussala 1959 - 1983
1932 - Inauguration of Meteorological Station on peak Moussala.
1959 – Opening of Cosmic Ray Station on peak Moussala.
1983 - Destroy of Cosmic Ray Station after a fire.
1993 - Start of Bulgarian-French project OM2 for monitoring and management of high mountain ecosystems.
BEO Moussala 2006
1999 – Inauguration of Basic Environmental Observatory (BEO) – Moussala.
2002 - Creation of BEO Centre of Excellence.
2002-2003 – HIMONTONET and NUSES FP5 projects.
2005 – BEOBAL FP6 project.
2007 - Moussala became pan-European Research Infrastructure.
2010 - BEO Moussala - Regional GAW station.
