Iva Hunova

Czech Hydrometeorological Institute | ČHMÚ · Ambient air Quality

Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests) spanning over five European biogeographic regions from 2005 to 2018. Average values for VFS were calculated accounting for the number of species present and their observed frequency. Spatial and temporal variation of ozone concentrations, VFS, and their relationships across Europe were then investigate...

Příspěvek představuje námrazu jako zajímavý hydrometeor, který může významně ovlivnit člověka a jeho životní prostředí. Shrnuje současné poznatky o vzniku námrazy a faktorech, které ovlivňují její tvorbu, a ukazuje důsledky a dopady, ke kterým může námraza vést. Kromě fyzikálních vlastností se článek věnuje i chemickému složení námrazy apoukazuje n...

This review presents the rime as an interesting hydrometeor which might substantially influence people and their environment. It summarises up-to-date knowledge on rime genesis and the factors affecting its formation and indicates its potential effects and impacts. Apart from rime´s physical characteristics, this review deals with chemical composit...

The representativeness of ambient air quality of an in situ measurement is key in the use and correct interpretation of the measured concentration values. Though the horizontal representativeness aspect is generally not neglected in air pollution studies, a detailed, high-resolution vertical distribution of ambient air pollutant concentrations is r...

Mountain ecosystems are inhabited by species with specific characteristics enabling survival at high altitudes, which make them at risk from various pressures. In order to study these pressures, birds represent excellent model organisms due to their high diversity and position at the top of food chains. The pressures upon mountain bird populations...

Nitrogen (N) deposition, an important process of atmospheric self-cleaning, represents an important pathway for nutrients and pollutants to ecosystems. Enhanced N deposition flux contributes to acidification, eutrophication and loss of biodiversity. N-NO3- concentrations in rime and snow were measured at 10 Czech plots situated in borderline mounta...

Lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) levels in ambient air were explored due to their toxicity and deleterious environmental effects. The aim of this study was to assess the time tendencies and spatial changes in Pb and Cd atmospheric deposition in a Central European country with a long history of ambient air pollution. We used measured data on precipitation...

Introduction Nitrogen (N) gradient studies in some cases use N deposition in throughfall as measure of N deposition to forests. For evaluating critical loads of N, however, information on total N deposition is required, i.e., the sum of estimates of dry, wet and occult deposition. Methods The present paper collects a number of studies in Europe wh...

It is important to study precipitation chemistry to comprehend both atmospheric and environmental processes. The aim of this study was the reconstruction of daily concentration patterns of major ions in precipitation from samples exposed for longer and differing time periods. We explored sulphates (SO42−), nitrates (NO3−) and ammonium (NH4+) ions m...

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), an indicator of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the atmosphere, is an important ambient air pollutant with significant human health and environmental effects. In the Czech Republic (CR), BaP, together with aerosol and ambient ozone, ranks (with respect to limit value exceedances and resulting population exposure) am...

eský hydrometeorologický ústav oddělení informačního systému kvality ovzduší Na Šabatce 17, 143 06 Praha 4-Komořany iva.hunova@chmi.cz Atmospheric deposition is an important self-cleaning process of the Earth´s atmosphere. On the contrary, however, it affects ecosystems, either directly or via hydrosphere and pedosphere, due to the excessive inputs...

Stable isotopes are increasingly being used in many scientific fields, including environmental sciences. In this study we measured the variation in the stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope composition of fog water, rain water (in the form of bulk falling precipitation) and throughfall water in the Šumava (the Bohemian Forest), Krkonoše (the Giant Mts...

Rime is an under-researched pathway of atmospheric deposition of ecological and environmental relevance, in particular in mountain regions. We present data on sulphur (S) deposition via rime and snow collected at 10 mountaintop sites in the Czech Republic (CR) during three consecutive winters (2009–2011). The mean S concentrations in rime ranged be...

Fog is an important atmospheric phenomenon highly relevant to ecosystems and/or the environment. Two essential prerequisites of fog formation are the presence of fog condensation nuclei and water in the atmosphere. The aim of our study was to examine in detail how fog occurrence is influenced by water areas in the immediate vicinity of the fog obse...

Fog is an important and complex atmospheric phenomenon, closely related to atmospheric chemistry and physics, studied widely from various points of view. The aim of this review paper is to provide a brief summary of up-to-date scientific findings and results on (i) fog formation, (ii) factors affecting fog, (iii) long-term trends, (iv) fog relevanc...

Ambient air quality in the present-day Czech Republic (CR), one of the two succession countries of Czechoslovakia post-1993, was perceived as a major problem with severe human health and environmental consequences, particularly between the 1970s and 1990s [...]

Fog is influenced by numerous factors, including forests. The aim of our study was to examine in detail the extent to which forests affect fog. We hypothesised that: (i) fog incidence is affected by forests, (ii) the forested area in the station’s neighbourhood is a factor influencing fog incidence, (iii) the influence on fog differs between conife...

Fog is an important and complex atmospheric phenomenon, closely related to atmospheric chemistry and physics, studied widely from various points of view. The aim of this review paper is to provide a brief summary of up-to-date scientific findings and results on (i) fog formation, (ii) factors affecting fog, (iii) long-term trends, (iv) fog relevanc...

Many studies have examined the relationships between the effects of the sunspot area and growth of trees; however, none of them considered European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.). We investigated the relationships between the sunspot area, climate factors (temperature and precipitation) and radial growth of beech in the Krkonoše Mts. in the Czech Repub...

Fog is a very complex phenomenon, relevant to both atmospheric physics and chemistry, contributing to the atmospheric inputs of both nutrients and pollutants to the environment. Fog occurrence is affected by numerous factors. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of terrain on fog occurrence. Namely, we studied in detail how altitude, slo...

Ambient or ground-level ozone (O3), a key player in atmospheric chemistry, has been studied extensively throughout the world in recent decades due to its harmful effects on human health and the environment. The aim of this study is to examine in detail the time patterns of O3 in the Czech Republic, a Central European country with a long–term histor...

The Jizerské hory Mts. (the Czech Republic) are part of the Black Triangle region strongly affected by a decline and dieback of Norway spruce (Picea abies [L.] Karst.) stands since the 1970s. In the studied peaty spruce stands in the summit parts of the Jizerské hory Mts., the health status, radial growth and foliar nutrient content in relation to...

Based on an analysis of related core papers and reports, this review presents a historical perspective on ambient air pollution and ambient air quality development in the modern-day Czech Republic (CR) over the past seven decades, i.e., from the 1950s to the present. It offers insights into major air pollution problems, reveals the main hot spots a...

Based on an analysis of related core papers and reports, this review presents a historical perspective on ambient air pollution and ambient air quality development in the modern-day Czech Republic (CR) over the past seven decades, i.e., from the 1950s to the present. It offers insights into major air pollution problems, reveals the main hot spots a...

The paper deals with the dynamics of structure, diversity and growth of natural pine stands without direct human impact during the ten-year period in Nature Reserve (NR) Kostelecké bory, Czech Republic. The objective was to determine the main characteristics of the spontaneous development of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forest stands in relatio...

Fog is a very important and complex atmospheric phenomenon of the utmost importance for the environment and for human society. For practical reasons, fog occurrence is observed regularly at meteorological stations worldwide. Decreasing trends in fog frequency reported from numerous regions have been often associated with either decreasing pollution...

Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are important in atmospheric chemistry and have substantial environmental impacts. This study provides a detailed data analysis on long-term changes in ambient NOx levels within the framework of their emission pattern. We examined the trends in NOx, NO, NO2 and NO2/NOx ratio at 39 Czech sites representing different environment...

Dear Colleagues, The Czech Republic (CR) is a Central European country with an infamous environmental pollution history and long-term problems due to heavy air pollution in the past. These were mostly due to emissions from burning poor-quality lignite of local provenience with very high contents of sulphur, used both for coal-powered thermal power...

The aim of our study was to identify the factors substantially affecting day-to-day variability in O3 concentrations in Czech mountain forests and to describe their influence in detailed, quantitative way. We examined the effects of meteorology and ambient NOx recorded in regular long-term continuous monitoring at five mountain forest sites represe...

From 2nd April 2008 to 28th March 2009, a total 248 daily samples of the PM2.5 and PM10 were collected every sixth day parallel at two suburban sites (Libuš and Suchdol) located at the two opposite sides (south and north, respectively) of Prague, Czech Republic. The PM2.5 samples were analysed for ions by Ion Chromatography (IC), organic and elemen...

It is widely accepted that excessive loads of nitrogen (N) deposition and ambient ozone (O3) endanger natural ecosystems and the environment. Despite substantial reductions in emissions since the early 1990s both in the Czech Republic and in neighbouring countries, neither O3 exposures nor N deposition have yet decreased to acceptable levels relati...

We examined observation-based fog occurrence at three Czech monitoring sites: Praha 4 - Libuš, Košetice and Churáňov, representing different environments - urban, rural and mountain - over a time span of 27 years (1989-2015). We searched for a simple model describing fog occurrence fitting the observed air pollution and meteorological data. For our...

Ozone plays a key role in the atmosphere and participates in numerous important chemical reactions. Apart from the atmospheric chemistry, ozone is also an important green-house gas, contributing significantly to climate change. The paper is focused on ambient (ground-level, surface) ozone (O3 ), which is considered, together with aerosol, to be cur...

We present the trends in ambient ozone concentrations based on high quality data measured continuously at 26 long-term monitoring sites (9 urban, 17 rural including 10 mountain stations) in the Czech Republic in 1994–2015. We considered annual and summer medians, the 10th and 98th percentiles, maximum daily 8-h running mean concentrations and expos...

Ground-level ozone (O3) is a key atmospheric constituent participating in many important atmospheric reactions, and has many negative effects both on human health and the environment. We have measured O3 ambient concentrations in four Czech rural areas of great natural value: the Orlicke hory Mts., Novohradske hory Mts., Česke Švycarsko and Jizersk...

The growth response of trees to changing climate is frequently discussed as increasing temperatures and more severe droughts become major risks for forest ecosystems. However, the ability of trees to cope with the changing climate and the effects of other environmental factors on climate-growth relationships are still poorly understood. There is th...

Key message The relict pine forests have a considerable regenerative capacity after the reduction of heavy air pollution load; nevertheless, tree data clearly reflect the climate and air pollution changes in the given stand conditions. Abstract The dynamics of “poor relict pine forests” under the long-term influence of climate changes and air poll...

Decline or health deterioration of Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) dominated forest stands has recently been observed mainly in sub-mountainous parts of Central Europe. Forest inventory of 208 randomly distributed circular plots including field observations of spruce tree health and rot symptoms by honey fungus (Armillaria ostoyae) was used...

We have investigated the association between heat waves and mortality and hospital admissions for Prague inhabitants for the summer heat waves of August 2003 and July 2006. The effect of heat waves was investigated using negative binomial regression in a generalized additive model. We used a linear model on a logarithmic scale, having 1-day lagged...

Nitrogen is an essential plant nutrient. Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, which has substantially increased in recent decades due to human activities, is harmful to ecosystems, disturbing the nitrogen biogeochemical cycle, and resulting in acidification, eutrophication, and changes in biodiversity. Nitrogen species, both in reduced and oxidized...

The Journal regrets that the author's names were tagged incorrectly resulting in author forenames appearing as surnames. The correct author names are: Filip Oulehle, Jiří Kopáček, Tomáš Chuman, Vladimír Černohous, Iva Hůnová, Jakub Hruška, Pavel Krám, Zora Lachmanová, Tomáš Navrátil, Petr Štěpánek, Miroslav Tesař, Christopher D. Evans. The Journal...

Time trends and spatial patterns for wet nitrogen deposition in view of its reduced and oxidized forms for Czech forests are presented. Time trends in NH4+, NO3-, and N-NH4+/N-NO3-ratio at 15 sites in 1990-2014 were analysed using the Mann-Kendal test. Changes in spatial patterns derived from results of 43 sites in 2005-2014 were also assessed. Our...

We examined the effect of individual environmental factors on the current spruce tree growth assessed from a repeated country-level statistical landscape (incl. forest) survey in the Czech Republic. An extensive set of variables related to tree size, competition, site characteristics including soil texture, chemistry, N deposition and climate was t...

A repeated soil survey (1995 and 2006) on 66 ICP Forests pair plots in the Czech Republic revealed a significant relationship between modeled nitrogen deposition and nitrogen concentration in the soil. Nitrogen deposition was modeled for the years 1995, 2004 and 2006. We found a more significant relationship between deposition data in 2004 and soil...

Data from 32 long-term (1994–2012) monitoring sites were used to assess temporal development and spatial variability of sulphur (S) and inorganic nitrogen (N) concentrations in bulk precipitation, and S in throughfall, for the Czech Republic. Despite large variance in absolute S and N concentration/deposition among sites, temporal coherence using s...

The quantification of atmospheric deposition flux is essential for assessment of its impact on ecosystems. We present an advanced approach for the estimation of the spatial pattern of atmospheric nitrogen deposition flux over the Czech forests, collating all available measured data and model results. The aim of the presented study is to provide an...

Changes in the structure and development of managed Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) stands with respect to changing environmental conditions were set for the period 1979-2015. The study was conducted in conditions of natural pinewoods and pine-oak sites on five permanent research plots (0.25 ha) in Eastern Bohemia, Czech Republic (CR). Studied for...

The area of the Orlické hory Mts. has been characterised by decline and disturbances of Norway spruce (Picea abies/L./Karst.) stands since the 1980s. Currently, only three permanent research plots have been preserved from the original sixteen established plots in this region. In the present study, the health status, as indicated by defoliation, mor...

We present results of the 5-year monitoring of ambient O3 concentrations in a Central European medium altitude mountain forested area. O3 levels were measured at 11 sites between 714 and 1000 m a.s.l. in 2006-2010 vegetation seasons using Ogawa diffusive samplers. Our results reveal that O3 exposure in the Jizerské hory Mts. was relatively high and...

This study analyses the data from repeated soil- and ground vegetation survey on ICP Forests level I plots in the Czech Republic and its relationship with deposition data.

The study was carried out at six sites in the Jizerskehory Mts. in the north of the Czech Republic. At all these sites, ranging in altitude between 460 and 962 m a. s. l., and during the period from June to September in 2008, O3 concentrations and environmental parameters important for accumulated stomatal O3 flux (AFst) into Fagus sylvatica leaves...

Ambient ozone (O3) represents one of the most prominent air pollution problems in Europe. We present an analysis on O3 with respect to its phytotoxic potential over Czech forests between 1994 and 2008. The phytotoxic potential is estimated based on the exposure index AOT40 for forests calculated from real-time monitoring data at 24 rural sites. Our...

The ozone effect on Norway spruce (Picea abies (L) Karst.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) was studied on 48 monitoring plots in 2005-2008. These plots represent two major forest tree species stands of different ages in eight regions of the Czech Republic. The forest conditions were represented by defoliation and the annual radial increment...

Ambient ozone (O(3)) is an important phytotoxic pollutant, and detailed knowledge of its spatial distribution is becoming increasingly important. The aim of the paper is to compare different spatial interpolation techniques and to recommend the best approach for producing a reliable map for O(3) with respect to its phytotoxic potential. For evaluat...

Purpose Though numerous studies investigating ambient ozone (O3) effects on human health were published, such a study for Central Europe is still lacking. We have investigated the association between ozone (O3) levels and hospital admissions and mortality due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases for Prague inhabitants for summer months (April...

We present a spatial estimation of the contribution of occult precipitation to the true atmospheric sulphur deposition across the territory of the Czech Republic. Our estimation is based on differences in two spatially explicit, data driven geo-statistical deposition models for forested areas: 1. a throughfall sulphur deposition model and 2. a sulp...

Ozone levels in the Jizerske hory Mts. measured at 13 sites by diffusive samplers during the 2006 and 2007 vegetation seasons are presented. A significant ozone gradient (5.4 ppb in 2006 and 4.0 ppb in 2007) per 100 m difference in altitude between 370 and 1,100 m a.s.l. was recorded. High-resolution maps of phytotoxic potential were developed. The...

The precipitation chemistry is monitored over the Czech territory in the long run and maps of atmospheric deposition are regularly published. The contribution of the fog deposition has so far been neglected, however. The chemistry of fog is measured only on a very limited number of sites and so the data which are at the disposal cannot be used for...

Malondialdehyde (MDA), a product of lipid peroxidation and biomarker of oxidative stress, is measured over the long term in spruce Picea abies needles under real conditions in three Czech mountain border areas. The trends presented collate the MDA content in spruce needles with ambient ozone, temperature and precipitation as casual, and defoliation...

Surface ozone is considered to be a very phytotoxic gaseous air pollutant. Its negative impacts at both the cell and the organ level have been shown, mainly as a result of experiments. However, the demonstration of ozone negative impacts on native plants is not explicit. An assessment of ozone impact on vegetation and ecosystems using indicators ba...

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The performance of a modified Harvard high-volume cascade impactor (HVCI) was evaluated in six field campaigns with size-segregated particulate samplings for chemical and toxicological characterization. The 7-week sampling campaigns in 2002-2003 in Duisburg (autumn), Prague (winter), Amsterdam (winter), Helsinki (spring), Barcelona (spring), and At...

Average 14day ozone (O3) concentrations were measured at 4 monitoring sites in the Vysoka Mt. in the Novohradske hory Mts in the 2004 and 2005 vegetation periods. O3 concentrations at all sites (elevation between 814 and 1021 m.a.s.l.) were measured with passive samplers. At one site, O3 concentrations were simultaneously measured with both passive...

The surface ozone levels were measured in the forested mountain areas of the Czech Republic in vegetation periods of 2004 and 2005 using the diffusive samplers. Commercially available Ogawa samplers, using filters coated with a nitrite-based solution, were applied. The ambient ozone oxidises the nitrite to nitrate, which after the exposure, is anal...

Forest defoliation and discoloration have been monitored extensively in Europe over the past decade, yet the number of published studies seeking to interpret these data in light of environmental parameters such as lithology and airborne pollution are few. In this study we summarize and compare data on defoliation and discoloration of Norway spruce...

The paper presents the trends in ambient SO2, NOx and O3 concentrations, SO42− and NO3− concentrations in precipitation and S/SO42− and N/NO3− wet-only atmospheric deposition over the period 1993–2001. The trends are presented for selected rural sites operated by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute. The results show that the remarkable decrease...

1. vyd. 300 výt. Určeno pro posluchače Přírodovědecké fakulty Univerzity Karlovy

In the previous tests of young spruce fumigation with the ozone added, simulating the mountain conditions during the vegetation period, accumulating of malondialdehyde (MDA) was proved in the spruce needles. We tried to verify MDA accumulation also in natural conditions of mountain forests. During the longer period, in 1994-2002, the MDA concentrat...

A new method for spatial interpretation and visualisation of measured air quality data developed and introduced in 1998 is used for ambient air quality assessment in the Czech Republic. The data from a countrywide air quality monitoring network is collated into the least possible number of factors describing the overall air quality in 1996-1999. Th...

The AOT40 exposure index developed within the context of the UN-ECE as a critical level is a tool commonly used in Europe to assess the geographical areas with vegetation potentially at risk due to elevated ambient ozone concentrations. Using the ambient ozone data recorded within a regular monitoring network in the Czech Republic, the AOT40 values...

Emissions from the Black Triangle Region were considered to be the major source of air pollution problems in Europe during the 1990s. This discussion reviews the changes in emissions and pollution concentrations in the Krusne Hory Region (Czech Republic) in the winter half of the year during most of the past decade, and describes the relationships...

The Krusne Hory mountain plateau has experienced serious forest die-back in the last three decades which has been linked to acidic deposition, though important deposition routes had not been established before this study. Aerosol and wet deposition (precipitation and cloud water) data are presented for samples collected on the plateau at 740 m a.s....

To estimate the ambient air pollution over the territory of České Švýcarsko National Park data on SO 2, NO x and ground-level O 3 concentrations, measured at 6 monitoring sites situated near the Park, were used. Inverse distance weighted interpolation was used to produce charts on spatial distribution of pollutants concentrations. These were compar...

Ground-level ozone and its potential impacts on human health in the Czech Republic I. Hunova, H. Livorova & J. Ostatnicka Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMU), Prague, Czech Republic Abstract The elevated ground-level ozone concentrations are considered to be a risk factor for human health. In the Czech Republic the nation-wide ground-level...

A method for spatial interpretation and visualisation of measured air quality data is presented that may serve as a tool for ambient air quality characterisation using the least possible number of factors. This method enables comparison of different areas in relative terms and has practical consequences in decision making and public information. Th...

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