The contribution of port-related emissions and meteorology in the air quality of Igoumenitsa port

Among the most important trade bridges for Western Europe and the Balkans is the Port of Igoumenitsa in Western Greece that experiences heavy traffic of goods and passengers. This study primarily aimed to investigate the effect of shipping and port activity on air quality in the Port of Igoumenitsa comparing two representative seasons of air quality measurement campaigns. The first, high activity season, ranges from 25/8/2018 to 31/08/2018, and the second, the low activity season, ranges from 17/5/2018 to 25/5/2018. A mobile air quality monitoring system was used to perform the analysis. To investigate the air quality differences between the two seasons, the wind speed rose diagrams, the correlation analysis as well as the hourly variations in concentrations of pollutants and meteorological parameters, were studied. In addition, the impact of meteorology and atmospheric circulation on local air quality were investigated. For study implementation, various types of data, obtained from NASA Worldview application, Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) and Giovanni online system (NASA-GES-DISC) were included. The results indicate that port operations affect the air quality in the Port of Igoumenitsa, as the high season showed higher concentrations of air pollutants compared to the low season. A notable exception was the concentration of PMs which was affected by an African dust transfer event during the low season. Finally, the analysis shows that meteorology affects air quality, and emphasizes the importance of developing a green and sustainable management system within the port.