As a result of various activities within the ACTRIS-ERIC infrastructure, interest in the Warsaw Observatory Station (WOS) is increasing among researchers across Europe. With the support of the pilot project ATMO ACCESS[1], funded by the EC HORIZON 2020 program, we offer broad access to our research facilities through Transnational Access (TNA) activities. As part of ATMO-ACCESS, the WOS station provides research infrastructure related to aerosol and cloud remote sensing, as well as data from in-situ instruments and models.

One of the most recent TNA is MEMU, (Mobile Exposure Mapping of air pollution in Urban environments), carried out by researchers from the Flemish research organization specializing in clean technologies and sustainable development (VITO, Martine Van Poppel and Jelle Hofman) and the Remote Sensing Laboratory (RS-Lab) led by Iwona Stachlewska. RS-Lab members are conducting mobile air quality measurements on bicycles using compact in-situ instruments. Measurement campaign started on September 5, 2024 and will continue until mid-October. The bicycle measurement team from UW consists of Igor Okraska (TNA coordinator at RS-Lab), Mateusz Winkowski, Zuzanna Rykowska, and Maciej Karasewicz.

Photo 1: Jelle Hofman (first on the left) and Martine Van Poppel (first on the right) with the RS-Lab team discussing the bike route. Photo: Zuzanna Rykowska.

Before the campaign began, the team hosted VITO researchers Martine Van Poppel and Jelle Hofman at the station (Photo 1). During the visit merit discussions took place and the RS-Lab team took an intensive training on the use of compact in-situ sensors given by Jelle. He also accompanied UW biking team on the first measurement ride (Photo 2). The cycling route is circa 14 km long, designed as a loop in vicinity of the Faculty of Physics at the University of Warsaw. This type of the measurements have never been conducted before in Warsaw!

Photo 2: Jelle Hofman with the RS-Lab measurement team before the first ride. From left to right: Maciej Karasewicz, Igor Okraska, Jelle Hofman, Mateusz Winkowski, and Zuzanna Rykowska. Photo: Tomasz Pietrzyk.

Note that preparations for MEMU TNA began long before the start of the bike measurements. In addition to measurement route selection we discussed possibility of using different instruments at the WOS. Also set of collocated measurements was carried out using on the WOS roof platform at Institute of Geophysics (IGF UW, Photo 3).

Photo 3: WOS measurement platform on the roof of IGF UW. Photo: Dominika Szczepanik.

Similar measurement campaigns have been conducted by VITO researchers as part of the EC H2020 project "Research Infrastructures Services Reinforcing Air Quality Monitoring Capacities in European Urban & Industrial Areas" RI-Urbans[2], including biking in Antwerp and Barcelona. The RS-Lab research team is also actively involved in this project (Iwona Stachlewska, Patryk Poczta, Zuzanna Rykowska, Emeka Ugboma, Franz Moritz Hey).

This is one of many projects carried out by the RS-Lab. We invite you to explore other activities of this group within the ATMO-ACCESS project and to follow our IGF UW on social media!

[1]ATMO-ACCESS (Grant Agreement number: 10100800), supported by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 – Research and Innovation Framework Programme, H2020-INFRAIA-2020-1

[2] RI-URBANS (contract no 101036245) - Research Infrastructures Services Reinforcing Air Quality Monitoring Capacities in European Urban & Industrial Areas, European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, Green Deal, European Commission.