Czech scientists from the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the CAS detected forest fires in Canada
Scientists from the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the Czech Academy of Sciences, who are part of the large research infrastructure ACTRIS – CZ, detected a sharp increase in air pollutants at several monitoring stations. The phenomenon was observed in the Czech Republic on June 9 and 10, 2025. Backward trajectory calculations of air masses confirmed that they originated from the Canadian region.
“Through chemical analyses of aerosol samples, we found a significant increase in the concentrations of elemental carbon, organic carbon, and other substances. By comparing the chemical composition, it was determined that these were aerosol particles formed by biomass combustion. A comparison with satellite imagery confirmed that the source was forest fires in Canada,” says Dr. Ing. Vladimír Ždímal, Head of the Research Group of Aerosols Chemistry and Physics at the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the CAS and Scientific Director of ACTRIS – CZ.
The same phenomenon was recorded by scientists in other European countries, including the University of Manchester in the UK, the Monte Cimone observatory in Italy, researchers from the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, using detailed models and monitoring stations at Jungfraujoch and Helmos in the Peloponnese.
Such clear detection of unusual events leading to air pollution would not be possible without the existence of large European research infrastructures such as ACTRIS – CZ, ICOS, and the support of satellite data and advanced atmospheric dynamics models.
The ACTRIS – CZ infrastructure consists of representatives from five institutions in the Czech Republic. The consortium includes the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the CAS, the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, the Global Change Research Institute of the CAS, Masaryk University, and the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the CAS. ACTRIS – CZ is the national node of the pan-European large research infrastructure ACTRIS ERIC.
