Temporal Variability of Surface Ozone Concentrations in Volos, Greece

Abstract

AbstractThe 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 10-year period 2001–2010. The regional climate, which 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.KeywordsOzone ConcentrationWarm PeriodOzone LevelSurface OzoneUrban StationThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.