PM10 concentrations related to meteorology in Volos, Greece

Abstract

Volos, a coastal medium-sized city in the region of Thessaly and extended along the northern part of the Pagassitikos Gulf at the eastern seaboard of Central Greece, is among the cities which suffer from the air pollution in Greece. The case of Volos is an interesting example, where in the last decades the urbanization and the increased industrialization have resulted in the degradation of the air quality in the area. Meteorological factors play an important role in the air pollution development, while the complex topography of Volos exacerbates air pollution episodes. In this study, the relationships between PM10 (particulate matter with diameter less than 10 μm) and meteorological parameters such as wind speed, relative humidity and air temperature have been analyzed from 2005 to 2007 on the basis of 24-hour continuous measurements. According to the results obtained from the multiple linear regression analysis, there is a strong relation between meteorological parameters and the particulate matter concentrations in Volos city. Moreover, the calculation of the 72-hour air mass back trajectories during (eight) Saharan dust events, took place within the examined period, was carried out by applying the HYSPLIT 4 model of Air Resources Laboratory of NOAA for three different levels: 500, 1500 and 4000 m (a.m.s.1.). It is worthy to remark the high PM 10 values observed, indicating the contribution of such natural events in exacerbating the air quality in the area of Volos. © 2009 American Institute of Physics.