Abstract
Meteorological and air pollution data observed during the last decade in Athens, Thessaloniki and Volos were analyzed to assess the air quality during heat waves. The identification of a heat wave day was based on two temperature criteria applied to the data recorded at the cities centre: the daily maximum and the daily average temperature value are at least 37°C and 31°C, respectively. Heat wave days were identified every year in Athens but only in 2007 in Thessaloniki and Volos. Air quality was aggravated during heat wave days, a fact that was verified by the means of the common air quality index. PM10 concentration levels increased 30% in the centre of Athens and more than 100% in Thessaloniki and Volos, while O3 concentration levels increased 29% in Thessaloniki’s suburb. The increase of pollution levels triggered exceedances of the air quality standards. Temperature and pollution levels during the heat waves occurred in 2007 were separately examined.
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Acknowledgments
The research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Regional Development Fund) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program “Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) – Research Funding Program COOPERATION 2009 (no. 09COP-31-1094, Title “Development of a Geographic Climate Information System”).
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Papanastasiou, D.K., Melas, D., Kambezidis, H.D. (2013). Air Quality During Heat Waves. In: Helmis, C., Nastos, P. (eds) Advances in Meteorology, Climatology and Atmospheric Physics. Springer Atmospheric Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29172-2_161
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29172-2_161
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