In this work artificial neural network (ANN) models are developed to estimate meteorological data values in areas with sparse meteorological stations. A more traditional interpolation model (multiple regression model, MLR) is also used to compare model results and performance. The application site is a canyon in a National Forest located in southern Greece. Four meteorological stations were established in the canyon; the models were then applied to estimate air temperature values as a function of the corresponding values of one or more reference stations. The evaluation of the ANN model results showed that fair to very good air temperature estimations may be achieved depending on the number of the meteorological stations used as reference stations. In addition, the ANN model was found to have better performance than the MLR model: mean absolute error values were found to be in the range 0.82–1.72°C and 0.90–1.81°C, for the ANN and the MLR models, respectively. These results indicate that ANN models may provide advantages over more traditional models or methods for temperature and other data estimations in areas where meteorological stations are sparse; they may be adopted, therefore, as an important component in various environmental modeling and management studies.

Topography and canopy play a decisive role on air temperature (T) conditions in forested areas. Air temperature is a crucial factor in decision making process for the development of these areas. To our knowledge, there is no information regarding the effect of topography along with canopy cover (Pc) on thermal conditions of a vulnerable mountainous forested region of Greece, Mount (Mt) Aenos in the island of Cephalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece. Therefore, the purpose of our work is the investigation of the aforementioned parameters, especially the effect of altitude (alt) and Pc on T of Mt Aenos. Mean values for maximum air temperature (Tx) and Pc were estimated for twelve sites at various alts in Mt Aenos during the period May-October of three consecutive years (2011-2013). The analysis of the results showed that Tx was related to alt and Pc. Altitude has a greater effect on T in relation to Pc. When examining same or similar alts, an increase of Pc up to 51% resulted in a significant decrease of Tx (p<0.05) up to 3.6 °C. Our findings could be taken into account in planning the construction of hiking trails for recreational activities in Mt Aenos, and, in general, in mountainous forest areas of special importance.

The present study demonstrates the efficiency of applying statistical models to estimate airborne pollutant concentrations in urban vegetation by using as predictor variables readily available or easily accessible data. Results revealed that airborne cadmium concentrations in vegetation showed a predictable response to wind conditions and to various urban landscape features such as the distance between the vegetation and the adjacent street, the mean height of the adjacent buildings, the mean density of vegetation between vegetation and the adjacent street and the mean height of vegetation. An artificial neural network (ANN) model was found to have superiority in terms of accuracy with an R² value on the order of 0.9. The lowest R² value (on the order of 0.7) was associated with the linear model (SMLR model). The linear model with interactions (SMLRI model) and the tree regression (RTM) model gave similar results in terms of accuracy with R² values on the order of 0.8. The improvement of the results with the use of the non-linear models (RTM and ANN) and the inclusion of interaction terms in the SMLRI model implied the nonlinear relationships of pollutant concentrations to the selected predictors and showed the importance of the interactions between the various predictor variables. Despite the limitations of the models, some of them appear to be promising alternatives to multimedia-based simulation modeling approaches in urban areas with vegetation, where the application of typical deposition models is sometimes limited.

Air temperature (T) data were estimated in the regions of Nea Smirni, Penteli, and Peristeri, in the greater Athens area, Greece, using the T data of a reference station in Penteli. Two artificial neural network approaches were developed. The first approach, MLP1, used the T as input parameter and the second, MLP2, used additionally the time of the corresponding T. One site in Nea Smirni, three sites in Penteli, from which two are located in the Pentelikon mountain, and one site in Peristeri were selected based on different land use and altitude. T data were monitored in each site for the period between December 1, 2009, and November 30, 2010. In this work the two extreme seasons (winter and summer) are presented. The results showed that the MLP2 model was better (higher and lower MAE) than MLP1 for the T estimation in both winter and summer, independently of the examined region. In general, MLP1 and MLP2 models provided more accurate T estimations in regions located in greater distance (Nea Smirni and Peristeri) from the reference station in relation to the nearby Pentelikon mountain. The greater distance T estimations, in most cases, were better in winter compared to summer.

The efficiency of applying linear regression (LR) and artificial neural network (ANN) models to estimate inside air temperature (T) of a glasshouse (37o48΄20΄΄N, 23o57΄48΄΄E), Lavreotiki, was investigated in the present work. The T data from an urban meteorological station (MS) at 37058΄55΄΄N, 23o32΄14΄΄E, Athens, Attica, Greece, about 30 Km away from the glasshouse, were used as predictor variable, taking into account the actual time of measurement (ATM) and two hours earlier (ATM-2), depending on the case. Air temperature data were monitored in each examined area (glasshouse and MS) for four successive months (July-October) and averages on a two-hour basis were used for the aforementioned estimation. Results showed that ANN were better than LR models, considering their better performance as shown in the scatterplots of the distribution of observed versus estimated inside T data of the glasshouse, in terms of both higher coefficient of determination (R2) and lower mean absolute error (MAE). The best ANN model (highest R2 and lowest MAE) was achieved by using as predictor variables the T at ATM and the T at ATM-2 from MS. The findings of our study may be a first step towards the estimation of inside T of a glasshouse in Greece, from outside T data of a remote MS. Thus, the operation of the glasshouse could be improved noticeably.

The current work focuses on the estimation of air temperature (T) conditions in two high altitude (alt) sites (1580 m), each one at different orientation (southeast and northwest) in the mountain (Mt) Aenos in the island of Cephalonia, Greece, by using two well-known statistical models, simple linear regression (SLR) and multi-layer perceptron ( MLP), one of the most commonly used artificial neural networks. More specifically, the estimation of mean, maximum and minimum T in high alt sites was based on the respective T data of two lower alt sites (1100 m), the first at southeast and the second at northwest orientations, and was carried out separately for each orientation. The performance of both SLR and MLP models was evaluated by the coefficient of determination (R2) and the Mean Absolute Error (MAE). Results showed that the examined models (SLR and MLP) provided very satisfactory results with regard to the estimation of mean, maximum and minimum T, regarding southeast orientation (R2 ranging from 0.96 to 0.98), with mean T estimation being relatively better, as confirmed by the lowest MAE (0.83). Regarding northwest orientation, T estimation was less accurate (lower R2 and higher MAE), compared to the respective estimation of southeast orientation, but, the results were considered adequate (R2 and MAE ranging from 0.88 to 0.92 and 1.00 to 1.40, respectively). In general, the estimations of the mean T were better than those of the extreme ones (minimum and maximum T). In addition, better results (higher R2 and lower, in general, MAE) were obtained when T estimations were based on T data derived from sites located at areas with similar surroundings, as in the case of dense and tall vegetation of the sites at southeast orientation, irrespective of applied method.