In Brno, long-term continuous air quality measurements are carried out at 12 sites operated partly by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute and partly by the City of Brno. Of these 12 stations, ten are automatic, and two are manual. Within the project, 12 new sites were identified, where measurements were carried out every two weeks during one measurement campaign, which was repeated four times at a given location, once each season. Therefore, the project achieved a very detailed density and intensity of measurements unprecedented in the Czech Republic. In total, measurements were carried out at 24 sites in Brno between 2022 and 2023.
The project measured standard pollutants whose structure corresponds to the requirements of Act No. 201/2012 Coll. on Air Protection. Their structure, including the intensity of measurements, is presented below.
Parameters measured by the measuring car (hourly averages)
- PM10 suspended particulate matter concentration
- PM2.5 suspended particulate matter concentration
- nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration
- nitric oxide (NO) concentration
- nitrogen oxides (NOx) concentration
- sulphur dioxide (SO2) concentration
- carbon monoxide (CO) concentration
- ground-level ozone (O3) concentration
- air temperature at 2 m
- air humidity at 2 m
- wind speed
- wind direction
Parameters determined by sampler sampling (24h averages)
- heavy metal concentrations
- arsenic concentration
- cadmium concentration
- nickel concentration
- lead concentration
- concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- concentration of benzo[a]pyrene (BaP)
Parameters determined by passive sampling (weekly averages)
- BTXE concentration
- benzene concentration
- toluene concentration
- m,p-xylene concentration
- o-xylene concentration
- ethylbenzene concentration
A total of 12 sites located in different parts of Brno were included in the measurement campaign. These sites differ not only by their location within the city but also by the character of their surroundings - some are located near a busy traffic road, others in a relatively remote location near green areas. For clarity, each site has been assigned a three-letter code (identifier), shown in the following assessment. In almost all cases, this identifier corresponds to the abbreviation of the municipal district in which the site is located, except for one location where, due to two locations in one municipal district, the identifier is derived from the name of the site (Klajdovka). For each site, the neighbourhood type and zone type were also specified to characterise the predominant use of the area in the neighbourhood and the geographical location (city or suburb).
Brno-Chrlice
The measurements were carried out on the premises of Moravia Tech, at a distance of approximately 25 metres from the main road, Rebešovická Street. On the other side of the road, a highway administration and maintenance building is nearby. At a distance of approximately 260 metres as the crow flies, there is a roundabout connecting Rebesovická Street with Davídková Street. The Brno-Chrlice district is on the outskirts of Brno in its southeastern corner. It has a cadastral area of 949 ha and approximately 3,200 inhabitants. The D2 motorway connecting Brno with Bratislava runs in the broader vicinity of the measurement site. The shortest distance of the measuring point from the highway is 820 metres. Behind the motorway, there is a large shopping centre Olympia (2.25 km) and a sewage treatment plant (1.56 km). To the east of Chrlice is an industrial zone (1.2 km). The centre of the urban area and the main residential area are located north of the measuring point, which in the context of the urban area is at its extreme south, close to the motorway.
Brno-Jundrov
The measurements took place at the Jundrov district office next to Veslařská Street. The measuring equipment was approximately 25 metres away from the main road. The municipal district of Brno-Jundrov is located in the northwestern part of Brno. The centre of the community lies in the valley of the river Svratka. To the west, the Jundrov game preserve is at a more significant elevation and has numerous gardening colonies. The district has approximately 4 600 inhabitants in an area of 4.15 km2. Veslařská Street is the main road of Jundrovo and connects the Žabovřesky/Komín district with the Brno-Pisárky district. It is also often used as an entrance to the motorways around Brno. Therefore, traffic jams are common at this location in the morning.
Brno-Klajdovka
The measurements took place in front of the hotel Velká Klajdovka at the adjacent road of Jedovnické Street. This locality falls within the urban area of Brno-Líšeň. Jedovnická Street is the main route from Brno towards the northeast. The site is significantly higher than the centre of Brno to the southwest. To the west and northwest of the site is the Hádecká planinka, a national nature reserve of more than 83 ha. The area to the east of the site is also wooded. To the south and south-east lies the Brno-Líšeň urban district, which in this area consists mainly of family and prefabricated housing.
Brno-Líšeň
The measurements in the Brno-Líšeň district took place right in front of the building of the Czech Television Brno. To the south, southeast and east of this location is an industrial area. Approximately 300 metres from the measuring point is the intersection of two major traffic roads, Jedovnická Street and Novolíšeňská Street. The municipal district of Brno-Líšeň has approximately 26 700 inhabitants and covers an area of 15,7 km2. The measuring point is located in the lower part of Líšeň.
Brno-Kníničky
Measurements in the Kníničky district took place at the local chapel of St. Cyril and Methodius at the intersection of Ondrova and U Kaple streets. This site is located in the residential area of Kníničky. Kníničky is located in the north-western corner of Brno, east of the Brno dam. It is therefore a suburban locality. The adjacent Ondrova Street is the local main road leading from the Brno Zoo northwards to the village of Jinačovice.
Brno-Kohoutovice
Measurements in the Brno-Kohoutovice district took place behind the Myslivna Brno hotel. It is a remote and elevated place. In the immediate surroundings there is more or less only the hotel building and a restaurant, otherwise the place is surrounded by forest (Masaryk Grove).
Brno-Komín
The measurements in the Brno-Komín district took place in the Káčata sports complex. The complex is located in the valley of the Svratka River. Across the river, approximately 90 metres from the measuring point, runs the local main traffic road, very often heavily trafficked, Kníničská Street. To the west and south-west, the Holedná Game Reserve extends uphill. To the north and east is the residential part of Komín and the traffic as mentioned above road.
Brno-Mokrá Hora
The measurements in the Mokrá Hora district took place at Úhledná Street, in a relatively quiet part of Mokrá Hora. The district as such is located in the northern end of the suburbs of Brno. A major road for motor vehicles, Hradecká Street, runs east, south-east and south. The shortest direct distance of this arterial road from the measuring point is approximately 500 metres. To the west of the measurement point, a large Globus shopping centre is located at a distance of 290 m.
Brno-Řečkovice
In the urban district of Brno-Rečkovice, measurements were carried out at Podhájí Street. It is a small, quiet street. To the east of the measuring point there is a large green area. On the other hand, to the west runs a very important road for motor vehicles, Hradecká Street, which is the main route from Brno northwards to the towns of Kuřim, Tišnov and others. The shortest direct distance of the measuring point from Hradecka Street is approximately 90 metres. Further to the west beyond Hradecka Street lies the residential part of the urban area of Brno-Rečkovice.
Brno-Štýřice
Measurements in the Brno-Štýřice district took place in the premises of companies at the intersection of significant traffic roads, Jihlavská Street and Vídeňská Street. The place where the measuring vehicle stood is located 70 metres from Jihlavská Street and 145 metres from the intersection with Vídeňská Street. In addition to Jihlavská and Vídeňská Streets, Heršpická Street is also close to the measuring point in an easterly direction. The measuring point is therefore surrounded except the north by significant traffic routes. To the south of the measuring point is Londýnské náměstí and Business Park Brno. To the south-west is the Brno Central Cemetery. To the west of the measuring point beyond Vienna Street is a residential area in the form of taller blocks of flats.
Brno-Tuřany
In the Brno-Turany district, the measurements took place opposite the district office at Hanácká Street on Tuřanské náměstí. Brno-Tuřany is a suburban locality in the south-eastern part of Brno. The measures took place in a residential area near Hanácká and Špirkova streets. Towards the east of the station, there is a commercial area with a number of different companies. At a distance of 750 metres to the north-east, the main Brno airport, Brno-Tuřany, begins.
Brno-Židenice
The measurements in the Brno-Židenice district took place in the local swimming pool and municipal spa. Seventy metres south of the measuring point, Zábrdovická Street, a major traffic road, runs west-easterly. To the north is the New Armoury complex. Formerly an industrial area, today the whole place is the subject of very intensive construction work and a new district with commercial and residential use is gradually being built here. In the vicinity of the measuring point, construction and demolition works occur at Nové Zbrojovka and on the adjacent roads, for example, on Lazaretní Street.
Monitoring periods
For logistical and technical reasons, it was not possible to schedule all measurements so that at each site, the time interval for each campaign corresponded to the actual season of the year.
The Gantt chart shows the measurement period at each site from February 2022 to mid-January 2023. The meteorological seasons highlighted in light shades in the Gantt chart are spring (light green), summer (light red), autumn (light yellow) and winter (light blue). The diagram also highlights the periods when the respective campaign shade was measured at a given location, dark green (spring campaign), dark red (summer campaign), dark yellow (autumn campaign) and dark blue (winter campaign). The Gantt chart shows that in some cases, the actual monitoring period may not correspond to the name of the campaign. It can also be seen that with two parallel measurements, there are sometimes significant differences between the periods. Given the variability of the weather, this must be considered in the evaluation. In general, for example, except for ground-level ozone, pollutant concentrations tend to be highest in the cold part of the year. Thus, if it was significantly colder during one campaign when measurements were taken at a particular location, this may impact concentrations.
An important conclusion to be drawn from the above is that the absolute values of concentrations measured in individual measurement campaigns cannot be compared with each other precisely because of potentially different other factors such as meteorological and dispersion conditions.