Analyzing, with the use of satellite and ground data, the environmental (mainly thermal) conditions of past marathon routes but most importantly by providing, real time information during the race on ambient thermal conditions.
This task aims to contribute to the objectives of sub2hrs project by analyzing, with the use of satellite and ground data, the environmental (mainly thermal) conditions of past marathon routes but most importantly by providing, with the use of satellite data, real time information during the race on ambient thermal conditions which change considerably along the route and with time.
In particular during this task, a novel application will be developed with the use of satellite data, and in conjunction with ground based data, so as to facilitate the operational use of extracted information regarding land surface and air temperatures along a route at temporal and spatial resolutions as high as 15 minutes and 1 km x 1km respectively. In practical terms, through the above application a series of near real time snapshots of the thermal environment along the route will be provided as well as detailed knowledge of the thermal characteristics at points along the remaining part of the route. The application will also allow the development of tailor- made products (given such as the thermal comfort and effort indicators (based on information on the thermal environment, relative humidity, the slope and elevation along the route, the type of materials on the ground, etc.)
For the purposes of sub2hrs project, the ground based infrastructure for the acquisition of satellite data of the National Observatory of Athens (NOA) will be used; satellite data from several missions will be also exploited in an effort to expand the geographic coverage of the applications. During the task, fine tuning of the methodologies will be promoted especially with respect to the link of land surface to air temperature, validations on the basis of historic data from previous marathon races and finally the preparation of contingency plans to overcome the difficulty that cloudy skies result in the acquaintance of data for the thermal environment at the ground.
Research work has been already initiated; in the following Figure, a representation (© IAASARS/NOA, 2015) is given regarding the prevailing land surface temperatures at specific points along the Marathon race in Beijing during the Olympic Games 2008. It should be mentioned that land surface temperature is an important parameter in the studies of urban thermal environment and dynamics. Land surface temperature modulates the air temperature of the lower layer of the atmosphere and is a primary factor in determining surface radiation and energy exchange, the internal climate in cities, and human comfort in the cities.
Professor Constantinos Cartalis from the Department of Environmental Physics of the University of Athens (UOA), Greece and former Secretary General for the Olympic Games 2004 at the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, and Senior Researcher Dr. Iphigenia Keramitsoglou from the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing (IAASARS) of the National Observatory of Athens, Greece, will act as co-chairs for this task. They both have experience in environmental and satellite-based technologies and applications, and have undertaken research within the DRAGON programme of the European Space Agency, to assess the use of satellite data in support of major sporting events (with case studies being the Olympic Games of Athens and Beijing).
