Role of Relief and Land Use on Air Temperature Modification in Attica, Greece

Abstract

The diversity of the terrain, the land uses and the human interventions in the environment cause local differentiation of the air temperature. The change of land uses during the last decades in Attica have created intense thermal pollution, among other environmental problems. In Attica there is a strong spatial air temperature differentiation. The air temperature conditions that are formed spatially in Attica because of relief and land uses were evaluated in this work. The built-up areas, the road network that crosses them and the adjacent structures are positions of high temperature. Conversely, the cultivated areas as well as the areas with forested vegetation create cooler environment conditions.