In 1972 at Cabauw (06348) a 213 metre (699') high mast was specifically built for meteorological research to establish relations between the state of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), land surface conditions and the general weather situation for all seasons.

The Cabauw mast is located in the western part of the Netherlands (51.971 °N, 4.927 °E) in a polder 0.7 metres (28") below average sealevel.

This site was chosen, because it is rather representative for this part of the Netherlands and because only minor landscape developments were planned in this region.

The nearby region is agricultural, and surface elevation changes are at most a few metres (yards) over 20 km (12 miles).

The soil consists of 0.6 metres (2') of river-clay, overlying a thick layer of peat.