No abstract

Evidence that heat wave events are associated with poor air quality conditions and health hazards has become stronger in recent years. In this study, the impact of two heat wave episodes on human thermal discomfort and air quality is examined during summer 2007, in an industrial plain of eastern Mediterranean: the Thriassion Plain, Greece. For this purpose, two biometeorological indices-Discomfort Index (DI) and Heat Load (HL)-as well as an air quality index-Air Quality Stress Index (AQSI)-were calculated using data from seven measuring sites. A land-use map was procured in order to examine the effect of different land cover types on human thermal comfort. The results indicated high level of thermal discomfort and increased air pollution levels, while a significant correlation between the DI and the AQSI was identified.

No abstract

The contribution of PM10 to the daily Air Quality Stress Index (AQSI) was examined in a heavily affected industrial city of Eastern Mediterranean (Aspropyrgos, Greece). For this purpose, hourly values of four pollutants (SO2, NO2, O3, and PM10) were analyzed between 2012 and 2020, revealing that the main contributor to AQSI levels came from PM10 (between 17% and 90% to the daily AQSI), with a moderate annual variability and a spring peak. Excluding PM10, the AQSI always remained below the threshold of 0.8. To identify the atmospheric source of PM10 peaks, the Flextra - Air mass trajectories model was applied to 47 cases when the upper thresholds were exceeded. The empirical results of the model show that dust transport episodes, mainly from Sahara Desert, contribute to the daily levels of PM10 and, for generalization, to AQSI.