Estevan Point

-CO2-

Station Characteristics Name : Estevan Point Country : CANADA GAW Category : 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 Island?s west coast at 49ON and 126OW. 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.