Estevan Point

-CO-

Station Characteristics Name : Estevan Point Country : Canada GAW Category : Regional Platform : Ground base Location : 49.38ºN   126.55ºW   39m a.m.s.l. Time Zone : Address : Organization : Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada Description : Estevan Point is a lighthouse station located in the midsection of Vancouver Islands west coast. The site can only be reached by boat or helicopter. The beach is about 100 m from the lighthouse. The lighthouse complex is surrounded to the north, east and south by forest and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. In June 1992, a weekly sampling program was initiated at Estevan Point. Samples were initially collected on the beach when winds were greater than 5 m s-1 using single valve evacuated flasks. In January 1993, MSC began a pressurized flask-sampling program, using 2-litre double-valve flasks. These samples are taken at the top of the 39-metre lighthouse tower. Currently, the weekly flask-samples are analysed for CO2, CH4, N2O, SF6, CO and H2 as well as for the isotopes of 13C and 18O in CO2. Continuous observations programs for CO2, CH4 and CO were initiated in 2009