Annex to Case ③: Siting of Air Quality Monitoring Stations

Abstract

Appropriate siting (i.e. suitable choice of location) of air quality monitoring stations (AQMS) has been evaluated on the territory of the Slovak Republic before its accession to the European Union. Different tools for geo-referencing and geographic visualisation illustrate how criteria for suitably measuring the air quality in large regions are implemented. As three examples out of the over 30 Slovak AQMS, the siting in Hnusťa, Jelsava and Kosice in southern Slovakia illustrates how the location of emitters, wind roses and air quality data are used to define valid measurement sites. For the Air Quality Framework Directive (AQFD) of the European Union, the selection of geographic sites for AQMS has to follow the rules defined in best practice guidelines. The EU Twinning project “Strengthening of Institutions in the Sector of Air Pollution” triggered the substantial and close cooperation of more than a dozen administrative experts in both Austria and Slovakia that transposed the EU acquis communautaire in the sector of air pollution. The author prepared the Slovak national AQMS documentation required by the European Commission based on the AQFD. Geo-visualisation may serve as a strong tool for defining the appropriate siting, even for large territories. Moreover, the spatial analysis of current AQMS siting led to a dozen recommendations on how to relocate existing AQMS on Slovak territory. Practically speaking, the present Twinning project contributed 1% to the Slovak EU accession on the level of technical administration. The consensus-oriented procedure of EU accession basically uses fact-based dialogue as a means for sociopolitical evolution.