Qualla: Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station

Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station: Introduction

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. On 24 January 2025, during Storm Eowyn, the anemometer at Mace Head registered a wind gust that broke the all-time Irish record - a record previously held since Hurricane Debbie in 1961. The instruments did not survive the storm intact, but they survived long enough to record the number. This is, in a way, what Mace Head is for. The station sits on a rocky headland on the west coast of Ireland, facing nothing but open ocean for thousands of kilometres, and its purpose is to measure what arrives - air, weather, gases, aerosols, mercury - before any of it has had a chance to be contaminated by Europe.

Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0

Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station: Why This Particular Rock

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Mace Head was chosen because almost nothing lies between it and North America. The prevailing winds bring air across the Atlantic that has spent days over open ocean, scrubbed of most of the pollution that would otherwise have entered it from cities and industry. To know what the...

Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0

Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station: The Slow Patience of Long Records

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Scientific value accumulates with time. Mace Head started measuring ozone in 1988, chloroform and other halocarbons earlier, and carbon monoxide and hydrogen in 1995. Each year of consistent measurement adds confidence to the trend lines that drive climate science. A cavity ring-...

Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0

Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station: Storms, Volcanoes, and Atlantic Air

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. The same exposure that makes Mace Head ideal for measuring clean air also makes it ideal for measuring storms. Storm Ali in September 2018, Storm Callum a few weeks later, Storm Jake in 2016, and finally Storm Eowyn in January 2025 - each registered on the instruments here, often...

Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0

Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station: A Network, Not Just a Site

Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Nilfanion, CC BY-SA 3.0. Mace Head is one of five EMEP sites in Ireland. The others are Malin Head in Donegal, Valentia Observatory in Kerry, Carnsore Point and Johnstown Castle in the east, and Oak Park in County Carlow, inland. Each sample tells part of the story. Mace Head's job is to know what Atlant...

Image: Nilfanion | CC BY-SA 3.0