A Comparative Case Analysis of Meteorological and Air Pollution Parameters between a High and Low Port Activity Period in Igoumenitsa Port

Abstract

Among the most important trade bridges for Western Europe and the Balkans is the Port of Igoumenitsa in Western Greece, which experiences heavy traffic of goods and passengers. This case analysis primarily aims to investigate the effect of shipping and port operations on air quality in the Port of Igoumenitsa, comparing two representative short case seasons of air quality measurement campaigns. The high activity season ranges from 25 to 31 August 2018, while the low season ranges from 17 to 25 May 2018. A mobile air quality monitoring system was used to perform the analysis. To compare the air quality of the examined periods, the wind speed rose diagrams, the correlation analysis, as well as the hourly variations in concentrations of pollutants and meteorological parameters, were studied. In addition, the impact of meteorology and atmospheric circulation on local air quality were investigated. For study implementation, various types of data, obtained from NASA Worldview application, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), and Giovanni online system (NASA-GES-DISC) were included. The results indicate that port operations affect the air quality in the Port of Igoumenitsa, as the high season showed higher concentrations of air pollutants compared to the low season. A notable exception was the concentration of PMs, which was affected by an African dust transfer event during the low season. Finally, the findings indicate that climatic factors affect the pollution levels of the case analysis, and emphasize the importance of developing a green and sustainable management system within the port.

A Case Study of Air Quality and a Health Index over a Port, an Urban and a High-Traffic Location in Rhodes City

“…Generally, the atmospheric dynamics of tropical and subtropical regions affect the atmospheric circulation over the eastern Mediterranean [43,54,55,58,59]. The air quality and the level of particulate matter over the Greek domain is prone to atmospheric circulation patterns, such as African transfer episodes [40,59]. The results of our analysis possibly indicate that the African dust episode affects the level of pollution over Rhodes city, providing an additive contribution (except for the traffic emissions) to the degradation of the air quality.…”

“…Previous studies have already shown that AQHI is a reliable predictor of the relationship between air quality and health risks [36][37][38][39]. This index considers the concentration of three pollutants which affect the local air quality, and also highlights important aggravating factors regarding human health (PM 2.5 , NO 2 and O 3 ) [38][39][40][41].…”

“…Moreover, previous studies have demonstrated that dust transfer from Africa (Sahara) impacts the air quality of the southeastern Mediterranean. These occurrences typically happen in the autumn and spring season, affecting the level of PM concentration in the area [40,59,60]. Additionally, during the summer period, the climate conditions (wind speed, temperature, as well as relative humidity) increase the danger for wildfire events to occur over the eastern Mediterranean.…”