Abstract

Cities in the Mediterranean are getting warmer due to the combined effects of urban heat and global climate change. As a result, urban climate is deteriorated with considerable environmental, energy and health impacts. Adaptation and mitigation plans to improve the thermal resilience of cities need to take into account the fact that a city is a “living organism” rather than an agglomeration of buildings. To this end, several city specific parameters need to be considered: the urban form and functions, the presence and strength of intra-urban heat islands, the spatial dispersion of anthropogenic heat, the prevailing urban fluxes, the urban geometry and the ventilation corridors, the cooling intensity of greenery as well as the radiative properties of impervious surfaces.

The use of Earth Observation, the exploitation of thermal sharpening techniques for improving the spatial resolution of satellite images in the thermal infrared, the application of cascade modeling for the assessment of adaptation/mitigation measures, the use of aggregate city related indicators and finally the prediction of potential changes in climatic characteristics for the area concerned, enhance the effectiveness of planning.  The above are examined and exemplified for the urban agglomeration of Athens.

About The Speaker

Constantinos Cartalis is Professor of Environmental Physics at the University of Athens (UoA). He has Bachelor in Physics (UoA) and Master of Science in Atmospheric Science, Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering (emphasis in Aerodynamics) and PhD in Atmospheric Science (all from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor). His research refers to: a) climate physics, including climate change adaptation and mitigation b) Earth observation with emphasis to urban applications c) urban science.

He is currently the Director of the Department of Environmental Physics as well as the Chairman of the Governing Committee of the newly established Department of Aerospace Science and Technology at UoA. He is visiting Professor at the Hellenic Open University (graduate program “Environmental Design and Climate Change”).

He has been appointed as member of the Bureau of the Subsidiary Body of UN for the Implementation of the Paris agreement for climate protection.  Principal Investigator of the European Space Agency for the Dragon program (in collaboration with the National Remote Sensing Center of China), member of the international Science Team of the NASA-run program on environmental science education (GLOBE) and member of the Copernicus Relay and Copernicus Academy in Greece. Editor for peer review journals.

Has served as Member of the Scientific Committee of the European Environment Agency, Vice President of the International Bureau of Education of UNESCO, Chairman of the Environment Committee of the Parliament of Greece and MP.

Has published 94 papers in peer review scientific journals.

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