The Atmospheric Pollution Research Group was set up in the mid nineteen nineties and actually started functioning officially in October 1996. An old lighthouse (still functioning) on the North Western tip of Gozo was chosen as the measurement station since this is exposed to the prevailing North Westerly winds.

This lighthouse, know locally as Giordan Lighthouse, was built by the British Army in 1853 and is still in use, operated by the Malta Maritime Authority who kindly consented to let us install our equipment there. This lighthouse has also found a multitude of users such as the Maltese Armed Forces who have communications equipment and a coastal radar scanner, Vodafone and Datatrack who operate relay stations, the Meteorological office who are installing equipment ancillary to ours, the Environment Pollution Department who have additional trace gas equipment, the Civil Protection Department who use this as a communication relay station and early warning radiation monitoring stations, The lighthouse lantern, now fully automatic, can be seen by passing ships from around 20 miles out at sea. The Atmospheric Pollution Research Group has its head office and monitoring laboratory at the university building on Gozo in the Village of Xewkija where suburban monitoring is also carried out.

The group also works closely with the local Environment Protection Department who are responsible for monitoring pollutions in Malta's suburban areas.

The impetus for the establishment of the group came from the Nobel prize laureate Professor Paul Crutzen who consider the Mediterranean a very important "cooking pot" for atmospheric chemistry in the Northern hemisphere.

Gozo, midway between Europe and North Africa, is strategically located for such measurements.

Giordan Lighthouse was was designated a GAW Station in early 2001.