Microclimatic conditions and levels of pollution in public squares, in Athens, Greece

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Abstract
Relative humidity and air temperature regimes were studied in public squares of Athens, that differ in size and the composition and density of vegetation. Pb and Cd concentrations were also measured in the plant species Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. (Bermunda grass) and the soil of all the studied squares. Relative humidity and temperature values showed a differentiation between the inner sites of the larger squares (0.5 and 1.0 ha) and the surrounding building areas (increase of relative humidity and decrease of temperature), whereas for the 0.1 ha squares no such observation was obtained. However, the impact of squares’ microclimatic conditions on the adjacent building areas is negligible in all cases. Elevated Pd and Cd levels, that reduced from the periphery to the inner sites, were measured in Cynodon and soil of all the studied squares. The significant correlations of Pb to Cd in Cynodon and soil and of Pb and Cd in Cynodon to Pb and Cd in soil indicate that both metals originate from the same source, that is automobile emissions.