BEO Moussala – A New Facility for Complex Environment Studies - Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions: Southeastern Europe - page 125

Table 11.1 Basic meteorological parameters

Meteorological parameter Value

-3.1 ◦ C Annual mean temperature

Prevailing wind direction a N-NE

Monthly mean wind speed 4.9-10.5 m/s

Annual mean wind speed 7.5 m/s

Annual mean rainfalls 1,000-1,300 mm

a BEO measurements (2003-2009)

11.1.2 The Station Chronology

1959 - Cosmic Ray Station was set up on peak Moussala
1983 - Cosmic Ray Station destroyed by fire
1993 - French-Bulgarian integrated project OM2 was started for monitoring
and management of high-mountain ecosystems
1999 - Cosmic Ray Station was reconstructed and renamed as Basic
Environmental Observatory Moussala
2002 - BEO Moussala - Centre of Excellence Award
2003 - BEO Moussala - ISO Certification
2007 - BEO Moussala became pan-European Research Infrastructure
2010 - BEO Moussala - Regional GAW station

The idea of constructing a Cosmic Ray Station on the peak Moussala was given
by the prominent Bulgarian scientist Acad. G. Nadjakov and the famous Hungarian
physicist Acad. L. Yanoshi. It was realized in 1959. Bulgarian school of Cosmic
Rays was developed during a long period of productive common scientific work
with the Hungarian group of physicists. The names of the leading scholars as
Prof. L. Mitrani, Prof. N. Ahababyan, Prof. I. Kirov and Prof. J. Stamenov stand
out in this group. Unfortunately, in 1983, the Moussala Cosmic Ray Station was
destroyed by fire.
The station was rebuilt in 1999 with the financial support of the Bulgarian
Ministry of Environment and Water and it has become a modern research facility.
The measurements restarted, keeping the tradition in cosmic ray research and adding
environmental monitoring via the French-Bulgarian project OM2 (Carbonel and
Stamenov, 1997 ) (funded by the French Ministry of Exterior and Centre National
de la Recherche Scientifique).
In 2003 BEO Moussala was certified by ISO 9001:2000 “Quality Management”
(No3312/0) and ISO 14001:2004 “Environmental management” (No357/0).
In July 2007 BEO Moussala was validated by EC and European Science
Foundation (ESF) survey as Research Infrastructure (# 563) of pan-European
importance.