Abstract
During the summer of 2007 several Greek regions suffered periods of extreme heat, with midday temperatures of over 40°C on several consecutive days. High temperatures were also recorded on the east coast of central Greece, where a complex sea breeze circulation system frequently develops. The more intense events occurred at the end of June and July. The highest temperatures were observed on 26 June and 25 July, while the sea breeze developed only on 25 July. Meteorological data collected at two sites—a coastal urban location and an inland suburban site that is not reached by the sea breeze flow—as well as pollution data collected at the urban site, were analysed in order to investigate the relationship between sea breeze development and the prevailing environmental conditions during these two heat wave events. The analysis revealed that sea breeze development affects temperature and pollution levels at the shoreline significantly, causing a decrease of ~4°C from the maximum temperature value and an increase of ~30% in peak PM10 levels. Additionally, several stress indices were calculated in order to assess heat comfort conditions at the two sites. It was found that nocturnal comfort levels are determined mainly by the urban heat island effect, the intensity of which reaches up to 8°C, while the applied indices do not demonstrate any significant daytime thermal stress relief due to sea breeze development.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, ASHRAE (1992) Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy. Standard 55
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, ASHRAE (2004) Thermal environmental conditions for human occupancy. Standard 55
Bonnardot V, Planchon O, Cautenet S (2005) Sea breeze development under an offshore synoptic wind in the South-Western Cape and implications for the Stellenbosch wine-producing area. Theor Appl Climatol 81:203–218
Boy M, Kulmala M (2002) Influence of spectral solar irradiance on the formation of new particles in the continental boundary layer. Atmos Chem Phys 2:1317–1350
Colbeck I, Meng-Chen C, Eleftheriadis K (2002) Formation and transport of atmospheric aerosol over Athens, Greece. Water Air Soil Pollut Focus 2:223–235
Epstein Y, Moran DS (2006) Thermal comfort and the heat stress indices. Ind Health 44:388–398
Filleul L, Cassadou S, Medina S et al (2006) The relation between temperature, ozone, and mortality in nine French cities during the heat wave of 2003. Environ Health Perspect 4(9):1344–1347
Garín A, Bejarán R (2003) Mortality rate and relative strain index in Buenos Aires city. Int J Biometeorol 48:31–36
Giles BD, Balafoutis C, Maheras P (1990) Too hot for comfort: the heatwaves in Greece in 1987 and 1988. Int J Biometeorol 34:98–104
Hughes M, Hall A, Fovell RG (2007) Dynamical controls on the diurnal cycle of temperature in complex topography. Clim Dyn 29:277–292
Kolokotroni M, Giridharan R (2008) Urban heat island intensity in London: an investigation of the impact of physical characteristics on changes in outdoor air temperature during summer. Sol Energy 82(11):986–998
Lee DHK, Henschel A (1966) Effects of physiological and clinical factors on response to heat. Ann N Y Acad Sci 134:743–749
Melas D, Kambezidis HD (1992) The depth of the internal boundary layer over an urban area under sea breeze conditions. Bound-Lay Meteorol 61:247–264
Melas D, Lavagnini A, Sempreviva A (2000) An investigation of the boundary layer dynamics of Sardinia Island under sea breeze conditions. J Appl Meteorol 39:516–524
Moran DS, Pandolf KB, Shapiro Y, Heled Y, Shani Y, Mathew WT, Gonzalez RR (2001) An environmental stress index(ESI) as a substitute for the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT). J Therm Biol 26:427–431
Moran DS, Pandolf KB, Shapiro Y, Laor A, Heled Y, Gonzalez RR (2003) Evaluation of the environmental stress index for physiological variables. J Therm Biol 28:43–49
Ohashi Y, Kawabe T, Shigeta Y, Hirano Y, Kusaka H, Fudeyasu H, Fukao K (2009) Evaluation of urban thermal environments in commercial and residential spaces in Okayama City, Japan, using the wet-bulb globe temperature index. Theor Appl Climatol 95:279–289
Papanastasiou DK, Melas D (2009a) Application of PM10’s statistical distribution to air quality management—a case study in central Greece. Water Air Soil Pollut (in press), online first: doi:10.1007/s11270-009-0123-8
Papanastasiou DK, Melas D (2009b) Climatology and impact on air quality of sea breeze in an urban coastal environment. Int J Climatol 29:305–315
Papanastasiou DK, Melas D, Lissaridis I (2009) Study of wind field under sea breeze conditions; an application of WRF model. Atmos Res (in press)
Physick WL, Abbs DJ (1992) Flow and plume dispersion in a coastal valley. J Appl Meteorol 31:64–73
Ren C, Tong S (2006) Temperature modifies the health effects of particulate matter in Brisbane, Australia. Int J Biometeorol 51:87–96
Sajani SZ, Tibaldi S, Scotto F, Lauriola P (2008) Bioclimatic characterisation of an urban area: a case study in Bologna (Italy). Int J Biometeorol 52:779–785
Santamouris M, Papanikolaou N, Livada I et al (2001) On the impact of urban climate on the energy consumption of buildings. Sol Energy 70(3):201–216
Stafoggia M, Forastiere F, Agostini D et al (2006) Vulnerability to heat-related mortality: a multicity, population-based, case-crossover analysis. Epidemiology 7(3):315–323
Stafoggia M, Schwartz J, Forastiere F, Perucci CA, SISTI Group (2008) Does temperature modify the association between air pollution and mortality? A multicity case-crossover analysis in Italy. Am J Epidemiol 167(12):1476–1485
Tan J, Zheng Y, Song G, Kalkstein LS, Kalkstein AJ, Tang X (2007) Heat wave impacts on mortality inShanghai, 1998 and 2003. Int J Biometeorol 51:193–200
Thom EC (1959) The discomfort index. Weatherwise 12:57–60
Van den Elshout S, Léger K, Nussio F (2008) Comparing urban air quality in Europe in real time A review of existing air quality indices and the proposal of a common alternative. Environ Int 34:720–726
Wai KM, Tanner PA (2005) Extreme particulate levels at a Western Pacific Coastal City: the influence of meteorological factors and the contribution of long-range transport. J Atmos Chem 50:103–120
Zhu M, Atkinson BW (2004) Observed and modelled climatology of the land-sea breeze circulation over the Persian Gulf. Int J Climatol 24:883–905
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Department of Environment, Prefecture of Magnesia in Greece, which provided data for analysis. Also, they would like to thank the BSc student Mr Christos Tselios for producing the topographic map.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Papanastasiou, D.K., Melas, D., Bartzanas, T. et al. Temperature, comfort and pollution levels during heat waves and the role of sea breeze. Int J Biometeorol 54, 307–317 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-009-0281-9
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-009-0281-9