Air quality in the Athens basin during sea breeze and non-sea breeze days using laser-remote-sensing technique

It is well established both from theory and experimental evidence that sea breeze plays an advert role on air pollution situation over a coastal urban area, specially during summer. This also applies to Athens area. Ground-based measurements in the area have shown that northerly wind flows during summertime play a depollution role in the Greater Athens Area. A wind field over a city is responsible for a mechanism forming a particular profile of the air pollutant considered; such air pollutant profiles were found in Athens for first time to a height of 1200 m in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer during an experimental campaign in the summer of 1994. The paper gives profiles of ozone and nitrogen dioxide on sea-breeze and non-sea-breeze days with possible explanations. Air quality aspects within the first 1500 m of the Atmospheric Boundary Layer over Athens are also discussed.