Comparative study of the land use characteristics in the greater Athens area (GAA) before and after 2004

Abstract

The purpose of the present work is to perform a comparative study of the land use changes in the rapidly developing Attica Peninsula including the Greater Athens Area (GAA) before and after 2004, the year that the Olympic Games took place, as well as of the effect of these changes on the respective pollutant emission profiles. The study of air pollution sources and characteristics is strongly dependent on the knowledge of the land use types as they influence a variety of processes that define air quality the most important one being distribution of emissions. Emission inventories consist of the most important input data that photochemical dispersion models require in order to produce realistic results. In recent years the road network has expanded while intense construction activities contributed on the radical changes of the land use, since urban areas replaced the previously free ones. As a result, a new emission distribution pattern has developed in the GAA, which is of great importance for the local air quality.