Investigation of Bioclimatic Performance in Specific Mountain Areas in Greece and Evaluation for Decision Making in Tourism Development

I. Charalampopoulos, A. Kamoutsis, I. Panagiotou and A. Chronopoulou-Sereli

Laboratory of General and Agricultural Meteorology, Agricultural University of Athens, 75, Iera Odos Str., 118 55 Athens, Greece, (e-mail: iharalamp@aua.gr/Fax: +30-210-5294214/Phone: +30-210-5295234)

Abstract In Greece the most important tourism activity occurs in coastal and island areas. Mountain areas have remained unexploited despite of their proximity to urban centers, their satisfactory road network and most of all their natural beauty and their beneficial environmental conditions. This study investigates the bioclimatic performance of Nafpaktia, a mountainous area in West Greece, in order to evaluate their ability for tourism development. For this reason, sensors of air temperature and humidity located in selected places of the above area at various altitudes with different aspects. Bioclimatic performance of these selected places was evaluated by Humidex Index. The results showed that rise of altitude leads to decrease of Humidex values, forming improved bioclimatic conditions. The selected areas are suitable for tourism development. Nevertheless, the most beneficial conditions were recorded at west and east aspects with the highest altitude areas.

Keywords: Bioclimate, Thermal comfort, Humidex, Mountain, Tourism

Introduction Weather and climatic factors are major components of the tourism environment, and the success of tourist destinations around the world depends on these characteristics (Rtz and Vizi, 2005). Thus, general knowledge about climate and bioclimate conditions is relevant and important for the tourism industry (Cegnar and Matzarakis, 2004). Tourism represents a very important economic factor in Greece. Although coastal areas are the most popular destinations in our country, mountains are able to offer to their visitors apart from their natural beauty, beneficial environmental conditions. A considerable advantage of mountain areas is the bioclimatic conditions that offer thermal comfort to visitors with beneficial influence to their recreation and health. Nafpaktia is a wonderful mountainous place in west Greece, with lush biodiversity (flora and fauna), that has remained unexploited and has great development potentials. This area is known for its beautiful beech forest (Fagus silvatica, Oxia in Greek), the southernmost beech forest in Europe. While the place has great interest and potentials, it cannot be denied that no bioclimatic or economic research has taken place in the area up to now. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impacts of bioclimatic performance of the mountainous district of Nafpaktia on tourism development of the area.

Methodology Study area This study was carried out on a mountainous area located in Nafpaktia (Municipality of Apodotia, Prefecture of Aitoloakarnania, Periphery of West Greece). In order to evaluate the bioclimatic performance of this area, six sites were selected. The criteria of these sites selection were altitude and aspect. Those sites are over Leyka and Grammeni Oxia villages. First site s1 (38 43 , 21 58 ) is located at 1163 m above sea level and has Southwest aspect. Second site s2 (38 43 N, 21 57 is located near Eyinos river bank at 676 m above sea level having the same aspect with the previous one. Third selected site s3 (38 44 22 00 ) is located at 1143 m above sea level in Grammeni Oxia village, with East aspect. Fourth site s4 (38 43 , 22 01 ) is near Eyinos river bank and is located at 824 m above sea level, having the same aspect with the previous site. Site s5 (38 44 , 21 57 ) is located near a small river (Kolokitha) bank, having altitude of 835 m and the last one s6 (38 44 , 21 58 ) at 1455 m above sea level located near the Alpine zone. The last two sites (s5, s6) have West aspect. Methods and parameters In order to calculate the bioclimatic performance of the selected sites, air temperature and humidity sensors with data logger (Hobo type, 08-032-08 with accuracy 0.2 C and 3% for the temperature and relative humidity, respectively) were mounted on trees under shade, 1.5 m above the ground at each site. For the protection from external factors such as rain, mist or dust, these sensors and loggers were covered with shelters. Each of the loggers recorded air temperature and relative humidity, simultaneously every 15 minutes. The recording phases lasted 2 months starting at July 17, 2005. The bioclimatic evaluation of the selected sites was achieved using Humidex index which has been used in European countries particularly in the Mediterranean region (Conti et al. 2005). Humidex formula is the following: H = T + 5 (e - 10) , where T is air temperature (C) and e is
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vapor pressure (hPa). In order to calculate accurately the aspect of each site, Idrisi Kilimanjaro G.I.S. software was used. For the estimation of Humidex values Bioclima 2.2 software was used. To illustrate the bioclimatic performance, daily Humidex average values were calculated. These values correspond to the following categories as in table 1: Category of comfort Comfortable Some discomfort Great discomfort Dangerous Very dangerous Humidex values (C) H < 27 27 H < 30 30 H < 40 40 H < 55 H 55 (heatstroke imminent)

Table 1. Humidex comfort levels classification (Conti et al. 2005).

Results According to Humidex classification (table 1) the mean values of Humidex (table 2) calculated at the six sites belong to the class comfortable. Also, the minimum mean value was recorded at s6 (the higher altitude among selected sites) and the maximum mean one was recorded at s2 (the lower altitude among selected sites). Regression analysis (figure 1) indicated negative linear relationship between mean Humidex values and altitude for the examined period. Mean Max Min St. Dev. s1 23.36 31.45 17.36 5.0 s2 24.11 32.00 15.98 6.0 s3 21.34 27.69 16.02 4.2 s4 23.15 30.61 15.57 5.4 s5 23.41 30.12 16.37 5.1 s6 19.60 23.61 16.46 2.5

Table 2. Basic statistics of Humidex values at every measurements site.

30 25
o Mean Humidex ( C)

20 15 10 5 0 600 y = -0.0051x + 27.7 R2 = 0.76*

800

1000 Altitude (m)

1200

1400

Figure 1. Estimation of mean Humidex on the basis of altitude at study area, for the period July 17 September 16 of the year 2005. * significant at p 0.05

Higher Humidex values were recorded at sites s1, s2 with Southwest aspect (figure 2). Furthermore, Humidex value is higher at the s2 site than at the s1 , up to class Great discomfort during daytime from 11:00 up to 19:00 hours, while during nighttime Humidex values are higher at s1. As it can be seen in Figure 2 Humidex is higher at the s4 site than at the s3, up to class Some discomfort from 11:00 up to 19:00 hours, during daytime. Similarly, Humidex is higher at the s5 site than at the s6, up to class Some discomfort from 11:00 to 19:00 hours, during daytime (figure 3). The most beneficial sites were s3 in Grammeni Oxia village and s6 which is located at the higher altitude, where Humidex was class Comfortable at all times.

Figure 2. Mean daily Humidex index pattern at s1, s2 (a) and (s3, s4) sites of mountainous areas of Nafpaktia, West Greece, in summer of the year 2005 (from July 17 to September 16).

Figure 3. Mean daily Humidex index pattern at s5 and s6 sites of mountainous areas of Nafpaktia, West Greece, in summer of the year 2005 (from July 17 to September 16).

Conclusions To summarise it can be concluded that: Whole studied area is under beneficial thermal conditions during the recording phase mean Humidex values belongs to class comfortable. This means that the selected area is suitable for summer tourist activity. As the altitude rises Humidex values become lower, forming improved bioclimatic conditions. According to the studied aspects, most beneficial conditions prevail at west and east aspects at the highest altitude areas. References Cegnar, T., Matzarakis, A., 2004: Climate and bioclimate variations in Slovenia and their application for tourism. In: Matzarakis, A., de Freitas, C., Scott, D. (eds.) Advances in tourism climatology. Ber. Meteorol. Inst. Univ. Freiburg Nr. 12, 66-73.

Conti, S., Meli, P., Minelli, G., Solimini, R., Toccaceli, V., Vichi, M., Beltrano, C., Perini, L., 2005: Epidimiological study of mortality during the summer 2003 heat wave in Italy. Environmental Research, 98: 390 399. Rtz, T., Vizi, I., 2005: Travel behaviour influenced by climatic factors The case of Lake Balaton, Hungary. Annalen der Meteorologie, 41: 612-615.

This research is co-funded by European Social Fund by 75% & National Resources by 25% O.P. (Operational Programme for Education and Initial Vocational Training) Education II (EPEAEK II), Environment-Pythagoras II-Funding of Research Groups in Agricultural University of Athens