Search

Περίληψη: Η παρούσα διατριβή αναλύει τα δεδομένα των 30 κορυφαίων χωρών στον τομέα των τροφίμων σχετικά με τις εισαγωγές και τις εξαγωγές τους τα τελευταία δέκα χρόνια. Ο κατάλογος των μεγάλων εισαγωγέων τροφίμων περιλαμβάνει τόσο ανεπτυγμένες οικονομίες όπως οι ΗΠΑ, η Γερμανία, η Γαλλία, όσο και οι αναδυόμενες οικονομίες όπως η Κίνα, η Βραζιλία, η Ινδονησία και η Τουρκία. Πολλές από αυτές τις χώρες εξαρτώνται από εισαγόμενα προϊόντα διατροφής λόγω έλλειψης αυτάρκειας στην παραγωγή τροφίμων ή οικονομικών πολιτικών. Από την άλλη πλευρά, ο κατάλογος των μεγάλων εξαγωγέων τροφίμων υποδηλώνει ότι αυτές οι χώρες έχουν δημιουργήσει εμπορικές σχέσεις με άλλες χώρες και έχουν ανταγωνιστικό πλεονέκτημα όσον αφορά την ποιότητα, την τιμή ή και τα δύο. Ενώ οι εξαγωγές τροφίμων υποδηλώνουν ισχυρή βιομηχανία τροφίμων και παγκόσμια ανταγωνιστικότητα, είναι σημαντικό να αντιμετωπιστούν οι ανησυχίες που σχετίζονται με τη βιωσιμότητα, την επισιτιστική ασφάλεια και τη δίκαιη κατανομή των οφελών στο εμπόριο τροφίμων. Η εργασία υπογραμμίζει τη σχέση μεταξύ του ΑΕΠ μιας χώρας και της ικανότητάς της να παράγει και να εξάγει προϊόντα διατροφής. Επιπλέον, τονίζει τη σημασία της ισορροπίας μεταξύ της κάλυψης των αναγκών σε τρόφιμα μέσω των εισαγωγών και της προώθησης της τοπικής παραγωγής και βιωσιμότητας τροφίμων. Τέλος, το άρθρο αναλύει το εμπορικό ισοζύγιο τροφίμων και το πώς αυτό επηρεάζεται από την οικονομία μιας χώρας.

In the following, we report on the activities performed within the European Space Agency Quality Assurance for Earth Observation, QA4EO, project, Work Package 2191, titled Validation of ESA EO Aerosol Height products with EARLINET Lidar observations. The purpose of our study is to investigate the ability of the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on board on the Sentinel-5P, to deliver accurate geometrical features of lofted aerosol layers in a continental scale. Comparisons with ground-based correlative measurements constitute a key component in the validation of passive satellite products related to aerosol properties. For this purpose, we use ground-based lidar data from lidar stations belonging to the European Aerosol Research Lidar, EARLINET, network. In the frame of this work, we have developed and applied an optimal methodology for validation purposes using EARLINET optical profiles a TROPOMI aerosol products, aiming at the investigation of Aerosol Layer Height product. This approach followed is based on the previous expertise and methodology that have been firstly developed and applied in EARLINET for the GOME-2/MetOp validation activities. We are looking for collocated cases between EARLINET and TROPOMI/SS5P overpasses for the time period 2018 – 2021, over the Mediterranean Basin which is selected as the domain of interest. We focus on selecting lidar stations located near the sea, because the ALH retrieval becomes unreliable over the land. Overall, for 7 selected EARLINET stations across the Mediterranean, 25 coincident aerosol cases were found, checked and flagged for the comparison against satellite retrievals. The presented validation methodology uses the lidar backscatter profiles and collocated TROPOMI ALH pixels for a standard set of collocation thresholds in time and space. We find high correlation (R2 =0.91) between satellite and ground-based data, but also that TROPOMI ALH values underestimate by -1.2±0.86 km on average the ground-based lidar observations for the selected cases with a remarkable aerosol load. The GOME-2 Absorbing Aerosol Height validation against EARLINET lidar profiles can be viewed in the relevant publication: Michailidis, K., Koukouli, M.-E., Siomos, N., Balis, D., Tuinder, O., Tilstra, L. G., Mona, L., Pappalardo, G., and Bortoli, D.: First validation of GOME-2/MetOp absorbing aerosol height using EARLINET lidar observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3193–3213, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3193-2021, 2021.

Volcanic eruptions eject large amounts of ash and trace gases such as sulphur dioxide (SO2) into the atmosphere. A significant difficulty in mitigating the impact of volcanic SO2 clouds on air traffic safety is that these gas emissions can be rapidly transported over long distances. The use of space-borne instruments enables the global monitoring of volcanic SO2 emissions in an economical and risk-free manner. Within the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel-5p+ Innovation project, the S5P SO2 Layer Height (S5P+I: SO2 LH) activities led to the improvements on the retrieval algorithm and generation of the corresponding near-real-time S5P SO2 LH products. These are currently operationally provided, in near-real-time, by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in the framework of the Innovative Products for Analyses of Atmospheric Composition, INPULS, project. The main aim of this paper is to present its extensive verification, accomplished within the S5P+I: SO2 LH project, over major recent volcanic eruptions, against collocated space-born measurements from the IASI/Metop and CALIOP/CALIPSO instruments, as well as assess its impact on the forecasts provided by the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service, CAMS. The mean difference between S5P and IASI observations for the Raikoke 2019, the Nishinoshima 2020 and the La Soufrière-St Vincent, 2021 eruptive periods is ~0.5 ± 3 km, while for the Taal 2020 eruption, a larger difference was found, between 3 and 4 ± 3 km. The comparison of the daily mean SO2 layer heights further demonstrates the capabilities of this near-real-time product, with slopes between 0.8 and 1 and correlations ranging between 0.6 and 0.8. Comparisons between the S5P+I: SO2 LH and the CALIOP/CALIPSO ash plume height are also satisfactory at −2.5 ± 2 km, considering that the injected SO2 and ash plumes’ locations do not always coincide over an eruption. Furthermore, the CAMS assimilation of the S5P+I: SO2 LH product led to much improved model output against the non-assimilated IASI layer heights, with a mean difference of 1.5 ± 2 km compared to the original CAMS analysis, and improved the geographical spread of the Raikoke volcanic plume following the eruptive days.

This is the Validation Report describing the validation operations of the S5P+I SO2 Layer Height Level-2 products based on Sentinel-5P/TROPOMI measurements &nbsp

Syftet med studien har varit att analysera produktionsrelaterad teknik för att utveckla en kostnadseffektiv lösning för dataöverföring mellan maskinens styrsystem och trådlösa enheter. Anledningen till att trådlösa metoder valdes för arbetet var att kunna reparera de olika givarnas fel och att ingripa i sensorerna i realtid. Vid användning av en bärbar enhet måste felet repareras och testas på maskinen. Undersökningen innefattar även att utveckla en lämplig metod för att trådlöst överföra uppsamlade mätdata till serverns miljö där mätdata ska lagras för att kunna presentera senare diagram, tabeller och använda mätdata för statistiska beräkningar. De rekommenderade metoderna som ska undersökas bör sedan appliceras i en produktionsmiljö med högkvalitativa säkerhetskrav. Anledningen till detta är att minimera produktionsstopp i samband med kvalificerad reparation. Många små och medelstora företag har inte råd att investera i dyr teknik, som i sin tur måste uppdateras regelbundet för att rymma ny utrustning, plattformar och utbilda underhållspersonal För dem kan det vara bra att installera ett billigt system som enkelt kan installeras och implementeras i sitt befintliga ekonomiskt styrsystem med minimikostnader med hjälp av oberoende varumärkesvaror. Resultaten av en systemundersökning har visat att dataöverföring med vissa metoder som kräver mindre säkerhetskrav och hög energiförbrukning blir mer instabila och mer mottagliga i framtiden. The purpose of the study has been to analyze production-related tech-nology to develop a cost-effective solution for data transmission be-tween the machine's control systems and wireless devices. The reason why wireless methods were chosen for the work was to be able to repair the various donors' faults and to intervene in the sensors in real time. When using a portable device, the fault must be repaired and tested on the machine. The survey also involves developing a suitable method for wirelessly transmitting collected measurement data to the server's environment where measurement data is to be stored in order to present later charts, tables and use measurement data for statistical calculations. The recommended methods to be examined should then be applied in a production environment with high quality safety requirements. The reason for this is to minimize production stoppages in connection with qualified repair. Many SMEs cannot afford to invest in expensive technology, which in turn needs to be regularly updated to accommodate new equipment, platforms and training maintenance staff For them, it may be good to install a cheap system that can be easily installed and implemented in its existing financial control system with minimum costs using independent branded goods. The results of a system survey have shown that data transmission with certain methods that require less security requirements and high energy consumption becomes more unstable and more susceptible in the future.

In this study we compare two automatic algorithms for the characterization of the aerosol layers derived from a Raman lidar and we test their application over a specific environment in continental Thessaloniki. Both automated aerosol typing methods base their typing on aerosol intensive properties. The methodologies are briefly described and the application on two case studies is presented. The results are checked for their consistency with satellite products and model simulations. Further application of the two classification tools was conducted. The evaluated dataset corresponds to ACTRIS/EARLINET (European Aerosol Research Lidar NETwork) Thessaloniki data acquired during the period 2012–2015. 80 layers out of 116 (percentage of 69 %) were successfully typed by both algorithms and assigned to four major types of aerosols: Dust, Maritime, Polluted Smoke and Clean Continental. The analysis showed that the two algorithms are in a very good agreement, when applied to real atmospheric conditions, with an agreement percentage of 88.8 % for Dust, 93.7 % for Polluted Smoke and 70 % for Clean Continental. The Maritime category was the one with the largest spread. These differences are attributed to differences in defining the aerosol types for the two methods. The overall consistency of the aerosol typing between the two automatic procedures despite the different aerosol type definition, allows their applicability to lidar data for characterization purposes. The joint characterization shows the highest degree of confidence in identifying Dust and Polluted Smoke, and emphasizes the need of further investigation for Maritime and Clean Continental type.

Land use planning decisions involve tackling complex problems and confronting multiple interests. A variety of factors and criteria need to be considered when planning for intricate and multifaceted environments, such as physical, social, economic, environmental, institutional etc. These factors which interact with each other, either in a complementary or conflicting way, cannot always be easily integrated into the decision-making process. Quantitative approaches such as Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques combined with GIS have been developed to conduct land suitability analysis and to support decision-making. Drawing on a completed project within the IPA Cross-Border Programme ‘Greece – the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 2007-2013’ titled “Soil degradation assessment and rehabilitation strategies for sustainable land use planning“ (acronym TERRAMED), the paper presents the application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), developed by Thomas L. Saaty in the 1970s, to produce decision maps in order to define the suitability of future land uses in the western part of the coastal zone of Thessaloniki in Greece. The analyses and scenarios produced constituted the basis for the formulation of specific strategies and actions, within the broader process of developing a master plan for this particular area. The paper stresses the importance of MCDM methods in providing a rational framework for making consistent land use planning decisions, being able to improve the transparency of the planning processes and to contribute to consensus building on policies and actions., RELAND: International Journal of Real Estate & Land Planning, Vol 1 (2018)

Learning objectives Background Imaging findings OR Procedure details Conclusion Personal Information References, Learning objectives: To illustrate that the presence of a vacuum within the osseous structures is often suggesting a pathogenetic mechanism and may highlight the underlying...