Background Pollution Values
Background Pollution Values
The activities of the National Meteorological Service (NMS), related to the observation of atmospheric background pollution, go back more than two decades. The sampling of atmospheric trace gases, aerosols and precipitation was begun in the early 1970s at the monitoring station in K-puszta. The measurement program was considerably expanded in the spring of 1996, as monitoring activities were launched at three additional measuring sitess in addition to the existing background station, thanks to subsidies granted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. They are at Farkasfa, Nyírjés and Hortobágy. The current measurement program is as follows:
K-puszta: gases: S02, N02, 03, C02, NH3 and HNO vapors;
Aerosols: sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, sodium, potassium and calcium;
Rainwater: pH, conductivity, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, chloride, sodium, potassium and calcium.
Hungary meets the data supply requirements set by the UN ECE European Monitoring and Evaluation Program (EMEP) and the World Meteorological Organization’s Global Atmosphere Watch on the basis of the data collected in Kpuszta.
Farkasfa: gases: S02, N02, 03 and HN03 vapors;
Aerosols: sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, sodium, potassium and calcium;
Rainwater: pH, conductivity, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, chloride, sodium, potassium and calcium.
Nyírjés: gases: S02, N02 and 03;
Aerosols: sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, sodium, potassium and calcium;
Rainwater: pH, conductivity, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, chloride, sodium, potassium and calcium.
Hortobágy: gases: S02, N02 and 03; Rainwater: pH, conductivity, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, chloride, sodium, potassium and calcium.
In addition to the above, the principal meteorological parameters such as temperature, wind direction, wind speed and relative humidity are also monitored at each station. Backward trajectory calculations (i.e., collected at receptor points), relative to the 850 hPa reference, are also performed at the station in K-puszta as a means of long-distance atmospheric propagation analysis.
Within the precipitation chemistry network of NMS, pluviometric samples are collected at monthly intervals at five additional locations (Keszthely, Pécs, Siófok, Szarvas and Szeged) using automatic sampling apparatus.
The samples collected at the stations are analyzed by the NMS central laboratory at Gilice tér. After being checked and analyzed as required, the data is archived andlor forwarded to the users.
