Ambient atmosphere

The course is open to ACTRIS related people (NF technicians, Advanced master students, Ph.D. students and early career scientists) and also to external (non-ACTRIS) users.

The course offers fundamental knowledge in aerosol sampling & conditioning as well as methods for aerosol in-situ measurements of physical and chemical aerosol variables (covering the whole variety of ACTRIS aerosol in-situ variables). The course includes a visit to the National Atmospheric Observatory Kosetice (NAOK) and hands-on training for some aerosol instruments.

Detailed information can be found at:

https://www.actris-ecac.eu/summer-school-2025.php

The service includes:

• accommodation at NAOK.

• all meals.

• transportation from Prague to NAOK and back.

   

  AVAILABILITY PERIOD: One weeks, once per year

Offer of technical audits for the measurements stations and measurements set-up

Compliance with ACTRIS standards (based on CEN/TS/best practice/decades of experience):

• sampling inlets,

• sampling lines,

• aerosol conditioning (drying),

• correct operation (parameters) of microphysical instruments.

Recommendations for improvements and possible arrangements in order to comply with standard operating procedures. 

PACC is a new unit of CAIS-ECAC, but the hosting laboratory at ICPF CAS has a long lasting history in aerosol measurements and in the last 3 years being also responsible for technical audits of ACTRIS AIS NFs. 

Calibration and operational checks for MPSSs.

MPSS calibration includes:

• the check of the main status parameters (flows, HV, etc.),

• check of the recommended set-up (bipolar charger, sensors - RH/T&p in aerosol and sheath flow, positive polarity HV supply, flow ratio, etc.),

• sizing check (NIST latex particles 203 nm),

• plumbing time check (up- and down-scan),

• check/adjustment of the sheath flow,

• comparison of the particle number size distribution against reference instruments (MPSS and total count CPC) on atmospheric aerosol.

Training of operators for correct set-up and operation and basic maintenance of the MPSSs. 

PACC is a new unit of CAIS-ECAC, but the hosting laboratory at ICPF CAS has a long lasting history in these measurements and is fully harmonized with WCCAP (TROPOS, Leipzig, Germany).

Deployment of the Atmo-Lab or CMLab to user-defined custom location. Requires coordination between user and service provider.

TIME CONSTRAINTS: Must fit into the deployment schedule of ATMO-Lab or CMLab

Deployment duration of > 1 month

Preparation and transport time must also be considered 

AVAILABILITY PERIOD: The service is available but must fit into the deployment schedule of ATMO-Lab or CMLab

Calibration and audit of an ICOS station with ICOS mobile laboratory. 

TIME CONSTRAINTS: The service is available but must fit into the audit schedule of the ICOS mobile laboratory.

AVAILABILITY PERIOD: The service is available. Location is subject to change, due to the mobility of the ICOS mobile laboratory.

AMP provides ground-based and airborne (hot-air balloon) atmospheric monitoring services, supporting scientific experiments and the testing of measurement devices, including: measuring particle sizes suspended in air within the 0.3–10 µm range; determining the concentration of collected particle fractions; measuring air temperature, pressure, and humidity; measuring ozone and soot concentrations; measuring the concentrations of atmospheric gasses such as CO₂, NO, NO₂, NH₃, SO₂, benzene, formaldehyde, and total volatile organic compounds (VOCs); collecting pollutant samples for chemical, biochemical, and crystallographic analyses in stationary laboratories; collecting and analyzing nanoparticles in the 10–300 nm range; and collecting and analyzing flora pollen, fungal spores, zooplankton, and microorganisms.

AMP enables the examination of collected air pollutant samples, especially their morphology, chemical and phase composition, in order to determine their source.

The technical solution for measurement in extreme high levels. Possibility to test specialized instrumentation in demanding conditions (shocks, vibrations, vertical gradients) of a 250 m high tall tower. The instrumentation can be placed on individual measuring platforms (8 m, 50 m, 125 m, 230 m), the instrument dimensions are limited by platform size and lift capacity.

Testing of the instrumentation by the unmanned aerial system (UAS). Possibility to use own UAS (necessary to comply with the legal regulations and laws of the Czech Republic, including insurance) within the specific conditions close to the tall tower. There is an option to compare/calibrate measurement parameters with regular tall tower data sets (meteorology, greenhouse gases, physical and chemical properties of aerosols, cloud mapping, etc.).

Opportunity to use the NAOK´s infrastructure fenced and secured area - sampling platforms, power supply, concrete platforms for sampling.

Providing results from online measurements –NO-NOX-NO2, SO2, PM10, PM2.5, CO, physical and chemical properties of aerosol particles.

Results availability from offline measurements - PM10, PM2.5, PM1, chemical composition - cations (PM2.5), anions (TSP), EC/OC (PM2.5), PAHs, heavy metals (PM10, PM2.5).

Accommodation directly at NAOK in rooms with private bathrooms (12 double rooms) with the possibility of local non-vegetarian food :o), use of seminar room with the capacity of 20 people, availability of small kitchen with limited equipment.

More information about measurement is here: https://actris.cz/web/data-and-measurement/