Douros meets with the Director of the National Observatory

The issues of cooperation between the Region and the National Observatory of Athens (ANA) for the response to extreme natural phenomena and disasters were discussed during the meeting between the Governor of Attica, Rena Dourou, and the Director of the Observatory, Professor Manolis Plioni.

The Attica Region Governor, after expressing her thanks to the employees of the National Observatory of Athens, stressed, referring to the cooperation between the Region of Attica and the National Observatory of Athens, that «we are here to prepare for the present and the future». «We are trying to cover the missing responsibilities of the local government and the Region of Attica to assist in dealing with the extreme weather phenomena that are here to stay,» she added.

In this context, the establishment of the Observatory of Earth Sciences and Climate Change (PAGAIA) in Antikythera was discussed with the support of the research sector of the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, which, as Professor Plionis stressed, «has already started its pilot operation after the transfer in June to the island of the initial equipment, the PollyXT lidar active remote sensing device, for the continuous monitoring of aerosols and clouds». «The CIMEL solar photometer was also installed, which integrated PAGAIA into NASA's AERONET global network of stations.».

At the same time, the aspects of the joint initiative of the Region of Attica with the National Observatory of Athens, the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and the Athens Kapodistrian University (AUEB) for the implementation of a model early warning system for severe flood events in the wider region of Attica were discussed.

As part of this system, the Director of the Observatory stressed that the NAA will undertake to install a new network of meteorological radars, similar to the one that decoded the phenomenon that hit Mandra last November, which will provide detailed monitoring of the cloud and storm systems, while the use of predictive weather models and the substantial cooperation of the NTUA on the hydraulics of Attica's streams and the transformation of this information by the NAA into practical information for the state, will provide the Region with a comprehensive tool for warning of severe flooding phenomena.