E-Locus - Institutional Repository of the University of Crete

Home Collections School/Department School of Sciences and Engineering Department of Chemistry Doctoral theses

Doctoral theses

Search command : Author="Γιαπιντζάκης" And Author="Ιωάννης"

Current Record: 22 of 229

[Add to Basket]

Identifier

000450538

Title

Spatial variability of atmospheric pollutants in the Greater Athens Area using remote sensing techniques

Alternative Title

Εφαρμογή μεθόδων τηλεπισκόπησης για τη μελέτη της χωροχρονικής κατανομής ατμοσφαιρικών ρύπων στο λεκανοπέδιο Αττικής

Author

Γρατσέα, Μυρτώ Σ.

Thesis advisor

Μιχαλόπουλος, Νίκος

Reviewer

Γερασόπουλος, Ευάγγελος
Καζατζής, Στέλιος
Richter, Andreas
Βρεκούσης, Μιχάλης
Κανακίδου, Μαρία
Περγαντής, Σπύρος

Abstract

The adverse health effects of urban air pollution on a large proportion of the world population living in urban envionments, along with its impact on the climate, results to continuous, low-cost air monitoring and measurement validations being a necessity. This study is focused on the investigation of the temporal and spatial variation of certain atmospheric pollutants in the greater area of Athens, mainly using ground-based remote sensing techniques and more particular, the differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) technique. The visible and near-UV molecular absorption bands were used in this study for the DOAS measurements. The atmospheric pollutants that were measured with a Multi-Axis (MAX) DOAS instrument, are: nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), formaldehyde (HCHO) and glyoxal (CHOCHO) and a detailed temporal and spatial distribution of these trace gases is provided; a consistent picture of the daily, weekly and seasonal variations is given. Oxygen dimer (O₄) measurements were also used as input information in a retrieval algorithm for the calculation of the vertical distribution of the aerosol extinction. Lidar and sun-photometer measurements were used for the evaluation of the retrieved profiles. The MAX-DOAS technique proved to be a reliable method for measuring aerosol levels and their vertical distribution in the urban environment of Athens, thus, new perspectives have opened for assessing urban aerosol pollution on a long term-basis in Athens from continuous and uninterrupted MAX-DOAS measurements. During the present study, the need to investigate the effect of the economic crisis to the air quality of the city has also risen: the increased price of heating oil resulted in an increase of biomass combustion for heating purposes, which in turn has led to severe smog episodes. Therefore, the combined effect of the reduced fossil fuel consumption and the increasing biomass combustion, as inferred from long-term carbon monoxide (CO) measurements and in conjuction with black carbon measurements, was examined. The importance of this study lies on the fact that it quantifies the diachronic changes in air pollution in Athens and associates it with several socioeconomic factors (e.g. measures, economic crisis, behavioural changes), while it can also be considered as a reference in the future for assessing and evaluating expected mitigation measures.

Language

English

Subject

Aerosol profiles

Ground-based MAX-DOAS

Urban gaseous pollutants

Αστικοί αέριοι ρύπου

Επίγεια τηλεπισκόπηση MAX-DOAS

Κατακόρυφη κατανομή αιωρούμενων σωματιδίων

Issue date

2022-11-10

Collection