Mission

The mission of atmospheric research at ARIAL is to create a multidisciplinary research environment to develop and apply techniques of basic applied physics, mathematics, chemistry and other related sciences in a way as to make atmospheric science an issue of significant economic importance.

Capabilities

1. Air Pollution Research
2. Upper Atmospheric Physics & Chemistry
3. Climate Change Variability/Change and Mitigation/Adaptation Assessment
4. Biosphere-Atmosphere Interaction
5. Computational science & Model Development

Facilities

1. Several Pentium IV Computer Systems with an overall storage capacity in excess of 1 Terabit (TB). The target plan is to expand the effective storage to approximately 5 TB by 2005.
2. Regional Climate Model (RegCM3) from the Physics of Weather and Climate Group of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP),Trieste, Italy
3. Atmospheric Mesoscale Dispersion Models (e.g. The MIUU Model from the Uppsala University),
4. Database Development Tools
5. Air Pollution Sampling Equipment (Carbon Monoxide Analyser, total atmospheric deposition gauges).

Achievements
        Air Pollution Surveillance

1. The current activities include the determination of: Lagos, Ile-Ife, Calabar, Warri/Ugheli, Shagamu/Ewekoro and other urban/rural locations.                                         
2. Indoor PM10 Assessment and impact on lung functions in urban households in Ile-Ife.

         Emission Inventories

1. The current activities include the determination of GHG, criteria and toxic air pollutants emission in Nigeria.  Some specific activities include: 1988 to 2000 (the only study in Nigeria).

        Regional Climate Modelling

1. Statistical Downscaling (undertaken in Partnership with the International Research Institute in Climate Prediction  (IRI), School of Earth Sciences, University of Columbia, Palisades, NY).
2. Dynamical Downscaling (Proposed for 2004/2005).

       NIMET-ARIAL MoU

• The Laboratory has just signed a Memorandum of Understating (MoU) with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Ministry of Aviation for a 3-year research collaboration covering the subject of atmospheric science and global change.

• X-Ray Fluorescence Laboratory
• 1.7MV Pelletron Tandem Accelerator
• Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) Laboratory
• Gamma Spectrometry Laboratory
• Radiation Safety and Control Laboratory
• Gas Chromatograph-Mass Spectrometer Laboratory (GC-MS)
• UV-Visible Spectrophotometer Laboratory
• Mechanical Workshop
• Electronics And Nuclear Instrumentation Laboratories
• Energy Efficiency and Management Laboratory
• Atmospheric Research & Information Analyses Laboratory (ARIAL)
• Computerized Instron Machine
• Precision Mini X-ray Diffratometer
• Differential Thermal Analyzer

• Guest House