The history of weather mapping in Šumava has deeper roots and dates back to 1818, when the first rain gauge station was established in Srní. The direct predecessor of the Churáňov station was the second-order station at Zadov, where there was a louvered box with thermometers, hygrometers, rain gauge, aneroid and Wild weather vane. In 1952, when the station at Churáňov was established, it was the only first-order station in the whole Šumava region and its main task was to provide meteorological information through internationally standardised SYNOP reports. At that time this station, located at an altitude of 1,118 metres, was equipped with meteorological booths, a thermometer set, a sun gauge, an anemograph, a mercury pressure gauge, a barograph and a thermograph. Over time, the Churáňov weather station has become an important centre for comprehensive documentation of atmospheric processes and has also become indispensable for hydrological forecasting services (monitoring the amount of precipitation during floods or the water supply in the snow cover). The basic statistical parameters that are automatically measured on a regular basis here include temperature, humidity and air pressure, precipitation, soil temperature, soil moisture, or the length of sunshine or global solar radiation, as well as wind speed and direction. Human observation is still necessary for the recording of thunderstorms and heat lightning, fog, snow conditions or settled precipitation such as dew, frozen dew, frost and rind ice. The amount, type and height of cloud cover are also documented and Churáňov is one of the four professional stations of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, where comparative measurements of selected meteorological elements in climatological terms are carried out with the help of classical instruments beside automatic measurements. This weather station, with a tradition of high-quality observations and measurements, also collaborates on a number of scientific and environmental projects. Measurements of air quality (sulphur dioxide and sulphate ion concentrations) began here in 1988 and since 1994 the station has had an automatic air pollution monitoring box that measures concentrations of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and ground-level ozone. Fugitive dust concentrations are also monitored. The local air quality records are important because the Churáňov station is in the Šumava Protected Landscape Area (CHKO) near the border of the Šumava National Park and provides important data for describing the overall level of pollution in the Czech Republic. In August 1994, a system for measuring the photon dose equivalent, i.e. the radioactivity of the air, was put into operation at Churáňov and the station is one of the points of the Early Detection Network of the State Office for Nuclear Safety. The long-term cooperation of the Churáňov weather station with the Czech Astronomical Institute is also significant. Churáňov was one of the first places where whole sky photographic cameras were installed to document bolides, i.e. bright meteors (since 1964). Today, Churáňov is part of a large photographic observation programme - the European Fireball Network.

Keywords: physics; physics atmosféry [meteorologie]; bolide photographing; synoptic (large scale) meteorology; atmospheric processes; radiation monitoring

Weather Station at Churáňov