Panagiotis T Nastos

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens | uoa · Department of Geography and Climatology

Crete Island is located in the southmost border of East Mediterranean basin, facing exacerbating atmospheric conditions (mainly concentrations of particulates) due to Saharan dust outbreaks. It is worth to note that these episodes are more frequent during spring and autumn, when mild biometeorological conditions become intolerable due to the synerg...

Tornadoes have been reported in Greece during the last few decades and recent studies have given evidence that western Greece is an area vulnerable to tornadoes, water-spouts and funnel clouds In this study, the composite means and anomalies of synoptic conditions for tornadic events (tor-nadoes, waterspouts and funnel clouds) over western Greece a...

Tropical days (TD) are defined as the days with a maximum air temperature greater than 30.0 °C. It is clear that the study of TD includes also the absolute maximum temperatures, which are of great interest for the description of a region’s climate. These days are considered as very hot, and they particularly are of great importance not only for bio...

In this study the contribution of meteorological parameters to the total variability of respiratory infections (RI) is analysed. For this purpose, data on the daily numbers of general practitioner (GP) consultations for RI during the year 2002 were used. This dataset has been compiled by the Local Health Service in the surroundings of Athens, Greec...

The aim of this study was to construct a high-resolution (1 km × 1 km) database of precipitation, number of wet days, and number of times precipitation exceeded 10 mm and 20 mm over Greece on a monthly and on an annual basis. In order to achieve this, the ERA5 reanalysis dataset was downscaled using regression kriging with histogram-based gradient...

The agricultural sector faces significant challenges worldwide due to climate change. The pressure exerted by altered thermal conditions drives the zonal shift for various cultivations. This study aims to analyze and present the spatiotemporal evolution of the growing degree days (GDD) index in the northern Mediterranean Basin (NMB). More specifica...

Rainfall variability, exacerbated by climate change, poses significant challenges to water resource management, particularly in regions prone to intense droughts and floods. The Greek islands, characterized by poor water potential, face interannual water supply issues dating back to their earliest habitation. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems emer...

The new global pandemic of COVID-19 declared on March 11, 2020, by the World Health Organization, has already had an unprecedented impact on health and socioeconomic activities worldwide. The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the United States of America and Europe in late September 2020. Compared with other southern countries, suc...

Climate change is challenging the agricultural sector worldwide. The pressure exerted by the altered thermal conditions drives the zonal shift for various cultivations. This study presents the multiyear analysis of the Growing Degree Days (GDD) index over the Northern Mediterranean Basin (NMB), focused on the high-value vine cultivation derived fro...

The 30th Issue of the Newsletter of the Environmental, Disaster and Crises Management Strategies is the outcome of a fruitful collaboration and knowledge sharing between geologists, civil engineers, geographers and oceanographers interested in mapping and monitoring the “Daniel” storm and its effects on the natural and built environment and various...

The study of atmospheric models and climate systems has been hampered by the restricted availability of wind profile measurements. By recording wind profiles in near real time and giving useful information for Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models, the Doppler wind lidar technology used in the European Space Agency’s Aeolus mission is expected...

Earth Observation (EO) is widely recognized as a powerful tool for Climate Change and Sustainability Education (CCSE); however, the uptake of EO data in schools is still limited due to technical, motivational, or informational barriers. A major factor for the exploitation of EO in schools is the availability of curriculum-relevant pedagogical conte...

This paper concerns eighty (80) lightning-ignited wildfires on Mount Mainalo, Greece, during the period from 1998 to 2022. Descriptive statistics of the dataset, frequency distribution histograms, and maps were used to describe the number of fires per year, the burned area per fire, the total burned area per year, the elevation of lightning-caused...

The tool assesses natural factors and the impact of human activities as well as the available mitigation measures in a cost-benefit perspective and with a view to mitigating the impacts of climate change. Therefore, the tool is designed to respond to both erosion (as a natural disaster) and erosion due to human (inappropriate) intervention, as well...

Sciences, As, Norway Water leakage is acknowledged as one of the most important issues that drinking water supply systems are facing worldwide. Non-Revenue Water is estimated to 346 million m 3 per day and its cost/value is estimated to 39 billion USD per year. At the same time drinking water quality is jeopardized from the water intake points to t...

Nisyros Geopark, an island geopark in the Southeastern Aegean Sea, Greece, is here presented as an official candidate for the UNESCO Global Geoparks designation, featuring outstanding geological, natural and cultural characteristics tightly connected to its volcanic origin. It covers a total area of 481 km2 and includes Nisyros, an active volcano a...

Forest fires constitute a major environmental and socioeconomic hazard in the Mediterranean. Weather and climate are among the main factors influencing forest fire potential. As fire danger is expected to increase under changing climate, seasonal forecasting of meteorological conditions conductive to fires is of paramount importance for implementin...

The present study investigated future temperature and precipitation changes over Greece using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. WRF was driven by EC-EARTH over Greece at very high resolution for the historical period (1980–2004), along with projected simulations, in the near future (2025–2049) and far future (2075–2099) under the Re...

Non-technical summary Humans have the tendency to damage the natural environment in many ways. Deforestation and conversion of forests for residential, industrial development, and expansion of agricultural crops, as well as the burning of fossil fuels, are some activities that disrupt natural ecosystems and wildlife and contribute to climate change...

Seasonal, interannual, and spatial variability of near-surface air temperature of the large area surrounding the Aegean Sea (34–42°N, 19–29°E) was investigated on the base of monthly and daily data taken from the NASA MERRA-2 reanalysis. Linear trend shows +0.39°C/decade warming of the region during the 1980–2020 period. Winter temperatures vary in...

Future changes in drought characteristics in Greece were investigated using dynamically downscaled high-resolution simulations of 5 km. The Weather Research and Forecasting model simulations were driven by EC-EARTH output for historical and future periods, under Representative Concentration Pathways 4.5 and 8.5. For the drought analysis, the standa...

Climate change may be a challenge for the agricultural sector worldwide. The pressure by the altered thermal conditions drives the zonal shift for a wide variety of cultivations. This study presents the multiyear analysis of the Growing Degree Days (GDD) index over the Mediterranean Basin, focused on the high-value vine cultivation derived from the...

Mediterranean region is an area with unique geophysical, historical and cultural history. According to IPCC 2014, the surface temperature is projected to rise over the 21st century and the mean precipitation is likely to decrease in mid-latitude dry regions. Consequently, we confronted the challenge to study the drought over the Mediterranean regio...

Forest fires constitute a major environmental and socioeconomic hazard in the Mediterranean. Weather and climate are among the main factors influencing forest fire potential. As fire danger is expected to increase under changing climate, seasonal forecasting of weather conditions conductive to fires is of paramount importance for implementing effec...

Rainfall intensity–duration thresholds are commonly used to assess flood potential in both urban and rural environments. Derivation of these thresholds is one of the approaches commonly used for the development of flash flood warning systems that are mainly based on rainfall predictions. This research work presents a detailed analysis on these thre...

There is a wealth of scientific literature that scrutinizes the relationship between mortality and temperature. The aim of this paper is to identify the nexus between temperature and three different causes of mortality (i.e., cardiological, respiratory, and cardiorespiratory) for three countries (Scotland, Spain, and Greece) and eleven cities (i.e....

The direct radiative effects of atmospheric aerosols are essential for climate, as well as for other societal areas, such as the energy sector. The goal of the present study is to exploit the newly developed ModIs Dust AeroSol (MIDAS) dataset for quantifying the direct effects on the downwelling surface solar irradiance (DSSI), induced by the total...

The direct radiative effects of atmospheric aerosols are essential for climate, as well as for other societal areas, like the energy sector. The goal of the present study is to exploit the newly devel-oped ModIs Dust AeroSol (MIDAS) dataset for quantifying the direct effects on the downwelling surface solar irradiance (DSSI), induced by the total a...

Photosynthetically active (PAR) and ultraviolet-A (UVA) radiation have important effects on plant processes, affecting both health and ecology of the natural ecosystems. Studies dealing with the composition of global solar radiation Rs in PAR and UVA wavelengths are thus important. The present work is aimed at the investigation of the relationships...

This study provides a thorough review and analysis of the evolution of the Greek vehicle fleet over the last ~30 years, which is next used for the generation of high granularity fleet projections, the assessment of associated air pollution and the estimation of relevant environmental benefits by 2030. The integrated methodology developed takes also...

The present study investigated future temperature and precipitation changes over Greece using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. WRF was driven by EC-EARTH output in the domain of Greece at very high resolution for the historical period (1980–2004), along with projected simulations, in the near future (2025–2049) and far future (2075...

This study provides a thorough review and analysis of the evolution of the Greek vehicle fleet over the last ~30 years, which is next used for the generation of high granularity fleet projections and for the estimation of relevant environmental benefits by 2030. The integrated methodology developed takes also into account vehicle clustering and the...

Green spaces within urban built environments could be beneficial for human thermal comfort at the micro-scale, especially during summer period at moderate climates, by effectively reducing heat stress. The objective of this study is to evaluate the human thermal sensation in a green-urban area of Athens during a summer day by using a three-dimensio...

A number of tropical-like cyclones (TLCs), also referred to as “medicanes” have been identified in recent years over the Mediterranean and nearby sea basins. These storms share some characteristics with the tropical storms that develop over tropical oceans (eg. hurricanes). However, the task of distinguishing TLCs from extra-tropical storms, the do...

In every city, air pollution is the foremost concern because of its impact in human health and economy. This strong connection appears gaining a lot of concern, driven by new installed air quality monitoring systems. Environmental and air quality data, highly accuracy, real-time monitoring, daily and yearly statistics, data access from experts or s...

Significant portions of European cities’ population are still exposed to levels of air pollution deemed harmful by the World Health Organization. Given the high impact of air pollution both on human health and the economy, numerous low-cost electrochemical sensor monitoring systems are being installed. The market is forced to develop new air qualit...

To date, due to climate change, heatwaves are more frequent, with greater intensity and duration resulting in deleterious impacts on human health. To be able to manage heatwaves and quantify the impacts on human health, it is crucial to define them and implement policy preventive measures. However, heatwaves are relative to the climate of a locatio...

This study presents the results of high-resolution dynamical downscaling of 5 km on maximum (TX) and minimum (TN) air temperature and precipitation, for Greece, with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The ERA-Interim (ERA-I) reanalysis dataset is used for initial and boundary conditions. The model results (WRF_5) are evaluated agains...

Downslope winds and lee gravity waves are common features of mountainous environments. A similar weather type at Mt. Parnassos in Arachova, Greece is known as “Katevatos” and has devastating results for the population and visitors at the local touristic resorts. In this study, we analyze three incidents of this atmospheric pattern at local scale re...

Risk assessment constitutes the first part within the risk management framework and involves evaluating the importance of a risk, either quantitatively or qualitatively. Risk assessment consists of three steps, namely risk identification, risk estimation and risk evaluation. Nevertheless, the risk management framework also includes a fourth step, i...

Potential evapotranspiration (PET) is a key parameter for climate classification and aridity assessment. The widely used UNEP (1992) classification system is based on the estimation of the aridity index AI, which requires annual average values of precipitation P and PET. For the calculation of PET the Thornthwaite's (1948) formula is, in principle,...

Most people living in Europe's cities are still exposed to levels of air pollution deemed harmful by the World Health Organization. In the modern world, air pollution is the foremost concern because of its impact in human health and economy. This strong connection appears gaining a lot of concern, driven by new installed low-cost electrochemical se...

Levar wind is the dominant meteorological and climatic feature in east Iran, blowing from Central Asia to the northern coast of the Arabian Sea. It is also known as “120-days wind” due to its mean duration in the summer season. Although violent and responsible for massive dust storms in southwest Asia, long-term climatology and atmospheric dynamics...

Climate change education (CCE) fosters the skills and behavioral patterns of students in regards to climate-related challenges and risks. Despite its importance, the integration of CCE in schools is challenging due to the interdisciplinary nature of climate science and the obstacles and demands of everyday school reality. Here, we examine the case...

We use the Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol Surface Properties algorithm (GRASP) to compare with dust concentration profiles derived from the NMME-DREAM model for a specific dust episode. The GRASP algorithm provides the possibility of deriving columnar and vertically-resolved aerosol properties from a combination of lidar and sun-photometer observ...

Olive and vine cultivations are two of the most important crops in Europe, yielding high quality and value food products. The climate change over the Balkans may elevate the agroecological pressure for the established crops and shift their cultivations areas. One of the widely-used agroclimatic indices is the growing degree days (GDD) which accumul...

Suppl table. Precipitation (P), Potential Evapotranspiration (PET), Aridity Index (AI), Water Deficit (D) and Water Surplus (S) values, for the three climatic periods.

Risk assessment constitutes the first part within the risk management framework and involves evaluating the importance of a risk, either quantitatively, or qualitatively. Risk assessment consists of three steps, namely risk identification, risk estimation and risk evaluation. Nevertheless, the risk management framework also includes a fourth step,...

Mt. Ainos in Kefalonia Island, Greece, hosts a large variety of plant species, some of them endemic to the region. Because of its rich biodiversity, a large portion of the mountain area is designated as National Park and is protected from human activities such as hunting or logging. Therefore, the area presents a lot of opportunities for ecotourist...

In the present study, the ability of the Advanced Weather Research and Forecasting numerical model (WRF-ARW) to perform climate regionalization studies in the topographically complex region of Greece, was examined in order to explore the possibility of a more reliable selection of physical schemes for the simulation of historical and future high re...

The temporal variability of the aridity index (AI) in Greece is examined over an almost century period (1900–1997) and for a number of meteorological stations according to data availability. The analysis is carried out for three distinct climatic periods: 1900–1929, 1930–1960 and 1961–1997. In addition to the use of AI, other drought related parame...

Evaluation of human thermal sensation in a green-urban area of Athens, Greece. Modeling against mobile measurements. Global warming, by means of heat waves, is expected to affect the human activities in the densely populated areas. This is the case of Athens mega city, the capital of Greece, which faces the most pronounced urbanization impact relat...

A new approach for the detection and certification of Mediterranean tropical-like hurricanes (TLCs) is described, in the frame of the research program MEDICANE, undertaken by the Laboratory of Climatology and Atmospheric Environment (LACAE) of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. A number of TLCs, also known as medicanes (i.e. Medite...

Extreme events are closely related to circulation features. In this study, the frequencies and the spatial distribution of combined extremes are investigated by relating their occurrence to synoptic scale activity. These combined extremes are referred to the joint modes of air temperature and precipitation extremes, concerning the co-occurrence of...