Aiming to inform the public about ambient air quality, within the framework of PANACEA RI, a PM2.5 particulate concentration monitoring network is being developed by placing measurement stations in the major Greek urban centers.
The sensors are mounted on urban and suburban locations to provide representative results for the population’s atmospheric exposure within several km2. The sensors used do not record levels of desert dust, as they detect only small particles.
The data is updated on the online platform in almost real time. For the interpretation of the levels, provided in terms of mass concentration, the following color scale is used, in accordance with the guidelines of the European Environment Agency.
Notes
* Optical particle count sensors are used to measure PM2.5 concentrations. The sensors are calibrated by comparison with reference instruments. However, since the optical measurement method used is not standard, the concentrations provided are not directly comparable to the predicted limit values from air quality standards.
** Due to the method used to measure fine particles, during dust transfer episodes (coarse particles) the reported concentrations may differ from the actual conditions.
*** Publications related to the calibration of measurements: Kosmopoulos et al. (2020), Stavroulas et al. (2020).
