Volatile Organic Compounds in the Boundary Layer in Tikveš, Kopački Rit Nature Reserve

This paper represents one of the first measurements of volatile hydrocarbon concentrations within the surface layer of the troposphere in Tikveš, Kopaeki Rit Nature Park. This Nature Park is situated about 20 kilometres from the city of Osijek and represents an interesting example of the interaction of the urban and rural (wetland) areas, which is also the reason for selecting the Tikveš site as the measurement station.Volatile organic compounds with two to seven carbon atoms were measured and analysed on a gas chromatograph with flame ionization (FID) and mass-selective detector (MSD). The results for the hydrocarbons with 2 to 7 carbon atoms are shown. Ozone volume fractions in the air were also measured. All data obtained are given as hourly averages: for volatile hydrocarbons of concentrations and for ozone of volume fractions. The most significant changes in the concentration were found for ethane, propane and butane. With the exception of isoprene, whose daily concentration changes similarly as found for ozone, the daily variations of the measured hydrocarbons in Tikveš differ from the observed ozone diurnal variation. The Spearman's test showed no significant negative correlation between the measured hydrocarbons