Abstract:

The surface ozone is a pollutant of major concern due to its impact on receptors, at currently occurring ambient levels in many regions of the world. The aim of this work is to present the results derived from an analysis of hourly surface ozone concentrations, measured at the urban station of Volos, a coastal medium-sized city at the eastern seaboard of Central Greece, during the 8-year period 2001-2008. The regional climate that is characterized by hot and dry summers with intense sunshine plays an important role in the observed exceedances of the air quality ozone limits. The analysis showed that, ozone diurnal patterns depict daytime photochemical ozone built up, during the sunlight hours of the day. It is remarkable that the maximum daily 8-h averages often exceeded the standard value that is assigned by the EU Directive for human health protection, during almost the warm period of the year, mainly at noon and afternoon hours. © 2013 Global NEST Printed in Greece. All rights reserved.

Notes:

Export Date: 2 November 2015Correspondence Address: Proias, G. T.; Department of Planning and Regional Development, University of Thessaly, 383 34, Volos, Greece; email: giproias@uth.grReferences: Brauer, M., Brook, J.R., Ozone personal exposures and health effects for selected groups residing in the Fraser Valley (1997) Atmos. Environ, 31, pp. 2113-2121;Dueñas, C., Fernádez, M.C., Cañete, S., Carretero, J., Liger, E., Assessment of ozone variations and meteorological effects in an urban area in the Mediterranean Coast (2002) Sci. Total Environ, 299, pp. 97-113; European Council Directive 2002/3/, relating to ozone in ambient air (2002) Official Journal of the European Communities, 67 l, pp. 14-30. , EU; Glavas, S., Surface ozone and NOx concentrations at a high altitude Mediterranean site, Greece (1999) Atmos. Environ, 33, pp. 3813-3820; Kalabokas, P.D., Viras, L.G., Bartzis, J.G., Repapis, C.C., Mediterranean rural ozone characteristics around the urban area of Athens (2000) Atmos. Environ, 34, pp. 5199-5208; Kalabokas, P.D., Repapis, C.C., A climatological study of rural surface ozone in central Greece (2004) Atmos. Chem.Phys, 4, pp. 1139-1147; Kalabokas, P.D., Volz-Thomas, A., Brioude, J., Thouret, V., Cammas, J.-P., Repapis, C.C., Vertical ozone measurements in the troposphere over the Eastern Mediterranean and comparison with Central Europe (2007) Atmos. Chem Phys, 7, pp. 3783-3790; Kalabokas, P.D., Mihalopoulos, N., Ellul, R., Kleanthous, S., Repapis, C.C., An investigation of the meteorological and photochemical factors influencing the background rural and marine surface ozone levels in the Central and Eastern Mediterranean (2008) Atmos. Environ, 42, pp. 7894-7906; Kelly, N.A., Wolff, G.T., Ferman, M.A., Sources and sinks of ozone in rural areas (1984) Atmos. Environ, 18, pp. 1251-1266; Kourtidis, K., Zerefos, C., Rapsomanikis, S., Simeonov, V., Balis, D., Perros, P.E., Thomson, A.M., Drakou, R., Regional levels of ozone in the troposphere over eastern Mediterranean (2002) J. Geoph. Res, 107 (18 D), p. 8140; Kouvarakis, G., Vrekoussis, M., Mihalopoulos, N., Kourtidis, K., Rappenglueck, B., Gerasopoulos, E., Zerefos, C., Spatial and temporal variability of tropospheric ozone (O3) in the boundary layer above the Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean) (2002) J. Geophys. Res, 107 (18 D), p. 8137; Lamarque, J.-F., Hess, P., Emmons, L., Buja, L., Washington, W., Granier, C., Tropospheric ozone evolution between 1890 and 1990 (2005) J. Geophys. Res, 110, pp. D08304; Lelieveld, J., Berresheim, H., Borrmann, S., Crutzen, P.J., Dentener, F.J., Fischer, H., Feichter, J., Ziereis, H., Global air pollution crossroads over the Mediterranean (2002) Science, 298, pp. 794-799; Lippmann, M., Health effects of tropospheric ozone (1991) Environ. Sci. Technol, 25, pp. 1954-1962; Paliatsos, A.G., Koronakis, P.S., Kaldellis, J.K., Effect of surface ozone exposure on vegetation in the rural area of Aliartos, Greece (2006) Fresen. Environ. Bull, 15, pp. 1387-1393; Paliatsos, A.G., Viras, L.G., Moustris, K., Temporal variability of surface ozone at rural locations in Greece (2008) Fresen. Environ. Bull, 17, pp. 66-73; Papaioannou, A.B., Viras, L.G., Nastos, P.T., Paliatsos, A.G., An analysis of selected air pollutants in the city of Volos, Greece (2010) Environ. Monit. Assess, 161, pp. 485-494; Papanastasiou, D., Melas, D., Statistical characteristics of ozone and PM10 levels in a medium sized Mediterranean city (2009) Int. J. Environ. Pollut, 36, pp. 127-138; Poupkou, A., Symeonidis, P., Lisaridis, I., Melas, D., Ziomas, I., Yay, O.D., Balis, D., Effects of anthropogenic emission sources on maximum ozone concentrations over Greece (2008) Atmos. Res, 89, pp. 374-381; Staehelin, J., Smith, W., Trend analysis of tropospheric ozone concentration utilizing the 20 year data set of ozone balloon soundings over Payerne (Switzerland) (1991) Atmos. Environ, 25 A, pp. 1739-1757; Vingarzan, R., A review of surface ozone background levels and trends (2004) Atmos. Environ, 38, pp. 3431-3442; Volz, A., Kley, D., Evaluation of the Montsouris series of ozone measurements made in the nineteenth century (1988) Nature, 323, pp. 240-242; Ziomas, I.C., Zerefos, C.S., Bais, A.F., Proyou, A.G., Amanatidis, G.T., Kelessis, A.G., Significant increasing trends in surface ozone in Greece (1989) Environ. Technol. Lett, 10, pp. 1071-1082

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