Relationship between the Indian summer monsoon and the large-scale circulation variability over the Mediterranean

In this study the impact of the Indian summer monsoon on the large scale variability of the atmospheric circulation over the Mediterranean is investigated on an inter-annual time scale. Composite and correlation analysis results are presented, outlining different circulation patterns in the upper and lower troposphere for strong and weak monsoon years respectively. For this purpose ERA-40 Reanalysis monthly mean data at various isobaric levels together with the standardized All India Rainfall Index for boreal summer (June–July–August–September) of a 44- year period were employed. During strong monsoon years many atmospheric circulation systems appear strengthened over Eurasia, resembling a well-organized Rossby wave train over the area. In the upper troposphere a meridional shift of the jet streams over the examined area was also identified during extreme monsoon years. On the other hand, in the lower troposphere enhanced northerlies (Etesians) appear to dominate over Eastern Mediterranean along with intensified subsidence during strong monsoon years

On the link between Indian summer monsoon and the Etesian pattern over the Aegean Sea

The Indian summer monsoon (ISM) is a key factor influencing the eastern Mediterranean climate. During early summer period, the thermal low over Pakistan and northwestern India extends towards the Mediterranean through inner Iraq and Turkey. On the other hand, the Azores high expands eastwards and meets the Balkan high pressure system, forming one common system. Greece lies at the transitional zone between these two pressure systems, where persistent northeasterly wind currents form especially over the Aegean, known as the Etesians. The objective of this study is to investigate the interrelation between the ISM and the Etesian winds over the Aegean Sea during summer for an extended period of 44 years (1958-2001) with the aid of composite and correlation analyses and ERA 40 datasets. More specifically, the study will focus on the ISM activity during and prior to or after ‘Etesian episodes’ in order to determine the extent to which one system may lead another. The present analysis reveals that during enhanced monsoon years two upper level ridges prevail over the greater area of interest, one over western Europe and northern Africa, which is part of the Azores high and a second one over Pakistan region, Persian Gulf and Middle Asia, which extends to the west and connecting to the first one forms a slight trough over Eastern Mediterranean. At lower levels, an intensification of the thermal Asian low as well as of the high pressure system prevailing over western and central Europe is apparent. Concurring with this pattern in upper and lower troposphere, anomalously strong northerlies appear over the Aegean during periods with enhanced monsoon activity, as horizontal surface wind anomalies depict. In agreement with previous studies, mid-level subsidence during excess monsoon rainfall periods is found to be more intense over the Eastern Mediterranean, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and east of the Caspian Sea

Επίδραση των μουσώνων σε κλιματικά ακραία φαινόμενα της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου κατά τη διάρκεια του καλοκαιριού

Η διατριβή αυτή έχει ως αντικείμενο τη μελέτη της επίδρασης του ΝΔ μουσώνα της Ινδίας (ISM) στα κλιματικά φαινόμενα που επικρατούν στην Ανατολική Μεσόγειο (EM) κατά τη διάρκεια του καλοκαιριού, εστιάζοντας συγκεκριμένα στην επίδραση του ISM στα κυρίαρχα χαρακτηριστικά της θερινής κυκλοφορίας της EM, τις καθοδικές κινήσεις και τους Ετησίες ανέμους. Η διερεύνηση της επίδρασης αυτής πραγματοποιήθηκε σε διαφορετικές χρονικές κλίμακες, την υπερετήσια και την ενδοεποχιακή, με τη βοήθεια πολυμεταβλητών στατιστικών μεθόδων (PCA-CCA). Από τη μελέτη των πεδίων κυκλοφορίας της κατώτερης ατμόσφαιρας κατά τη διάρκεια των ακραίων ISM ετών αναγνωρίστηκαν τα δύο κέντρα κυκλοφορίας που ευθύνονται για τη δημιουργία των ενισχυμένων βόρειων ανέμων πάνω από την περιοχή του Αιγαίου (Ετησίες). Τα κέντρα αυτά, το αντικυκλωνικό σύστημα πάνω από την Δυτική και Κεντρική Ευρώπη και ο αυλώνας υφέσεων του Περσικού Κόλπου, βρέθηκαν ότι ενισχύονται συγχρόνως με την ενίσχυση του ISM. Η μελέτη της δυνητικής θερμοκρασίας στην ανώτερη ατμόσφαιρα απεκάλυψε μία θέρμανση της τροπόσφαιρας πάνω από την περιοχή δράσης του αντικυκλώνα της Κεντρικής Ασίας, η οποία βρέθηκε να εξαπλώνεται προς τα δυτικά και να φτάνει μέχρι τη Μεσόγειο και τη Β. Αφρική. Παρατηρήθηκε ότι μέσω αυτού του μηχανισμού θέρμανσης της τροπόσφαιρας, η έντονη μουσωνική δραστηριότητα επιφέρει κλίση των ισεντροπικών επιφανειών στη διεύθυνση Ανατολή-Δύση στη ζώνη των γ.π. 30°-40°Β. Η κλίση αυτή των ισεντροπικών σε συνδυασμό με την κυρίαρχη υπόβαθρη δυτική ροή των μέσων πλατών στα δυτικά του ISM, επιφέρει την εμφάνιση έντονων καθοδικών κινήσεων από την EM. Όσον αφορά στη μελέτη της διασύνδεσης των δύο περιοχών σε υπερετήσια κλίμακα, βρέθηκε ότι ο ISM επηρεάζει την υπερετήσια μεταβλητότητα των Ετησιών, μέσω της επίδρασης που ασκεί στην ένταση του συστήματος χαμηλών πιέσεων του Πακιστάν-ΝΔ Ασίας. Επίσης, βρέθηκε ότι ο ISM συνδέεται με τη δημιουργία ενός ισημερινού κύματος Rossby, που ξεκινάει από τα βόρεια της Ινδίας και εκτείνεται στα δυτικά μέχρι και την Αμερικανική ήπειρο πάνω από τα τροπικά και υποτροπικά πλάτη. Το κύμα αυτό συνδέεται με την ανάπτυξη της θερμής δομής στην τροπόσφαιρα, πάνω από τις περιοχές όπου εκτείνεται, και κατ’ επέκταση με τις καθοδικές κινήσεις πάνω από την περιοχή της EM στην ανώτερη (200 hPa) και μέση τροπόσφαιρα (500 hPa). Η ενδοεποχιακή μελέτη της τηλεσύνδεσης των δύο περιοχών έδειξε ότι οι “ενεργές” φάσεις του μουσώνα συνδέονται με την ανάπτυξη των καθοδικών κινήσεων της μέσης και ανώτερης τροπόσφαιρας πάνω από την Αν. Μεσόγειο. Οι καθοδικές αυτές κινήσεις δεν εμφανίζονται in-situ αλλά παρουσιάζουν μία μετακίνηση προς τα βορειοδυτικά, συγχρόνως με την διάδοση προς τα δυτικά του ισημερινού κύματος Rossby, που αποτελεί απόκριση στην πηγή διαβατικής θέρμανσης του μουσώνα. Από την άλλη αποδείχτηκε ότι η μουσωνική δραστηριότητα δεν συνδέεται με την υψηλής συχνότητας μεταβλητότητα των Ετησιών στην περιοχή του Αιγαίου. Αντιθέτως, βρέθηκε ότι η ενδοεποχιακή μεταβλητότητα των Ετησιών ελέγχεται κατά κύριο λόγο από τη δυναμική των μέσων πλατών.The objective of this thesis is the study of the effect of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) on the summer climatic features of the Eastern Mediterranean (EM). The focus is specifically given on the impact of ISM on the two main dynamic factors governing the EM summer circulation, i.e. the intensified subsidence and the persistent northerly flow, known since antiquity by the name “Etesians”. The investigation of this effect was carried out at different time scales, the inter-annual and intra-seasonal time scale, by implementing multivariate statistical techniques (PCA-CCA). From the study of the circulation fields of the lower troposphere during extreme ISM years, the two circulation centers that are responsible for generating the Etesians pattern over the Aegean Sea were identified. The enhancement of these two centers, the high-pressure system over Western and Central Europe and the Persian trough, was found to be directly related to the ISM activity. The study of the potential temperature in the upper troposphere revealed a tropospheric warming over the area of action of the Central Asia anticyclone, which is directly linked to the ISM activity and was found to spread westward, up to the Mediterranean area and North Africa. Hence, through this mechanism, an enhanced monsoon activity induces a significant depression of the isentropes in the East-West direction over the latitude band 30°-40°N. This inclination of the isentropes, combined with the mid-latitude westerlies to the west of the ISM area, results in enhanced subsidence over the EM. Regarding the study of the interrelationship of the two regions on an inter-annual scale, it was found that ISM influences the inter-annual variability of the Etesians, through its impact on the intensity of the low-pressure system of Pakistan-SW Asia. In the upper atmospheric circulation a teleconnection pattern was identified, which depicts a structure of an anticyclonic gyre extending over the tropics and the subtropics, westward from northern India region up to the American continent, and represents the equatorially trapped Rossby wave response to the convective activity of the ISM. This wave is associated with the development of the warm structure in the troposphere over the areas that it extends, and therefore with the enhanced subsidence movement over the EM in the upper (200 hPa) and the middle troposphere (500 hPa). The intra-seasonal study of the interconnection of the EM and the ISM regions revealed that the active phases of the monsoon are associated with the development of the subsidence movements over the EM in the middle and the upper troposphere. These movements do not appear in-situ but instead, they seem to shift towards the northwest concurrently with the westward propagation of the equatorially trapped Rossby wave-response to the convective activity of the ISM. On the other hand, it was found that the high-frequency variability of Etesians is not related to the monsoon activity but is mainly controlled by the middle latitude dynamics

Telemedicine via satellite: Linking eHealth and development in rural Peru and Brazil

Access to health care services is extremely difficult for many rural and underserved regions of Latin America, particularly in rural Peru and Brazil. MEDNET attempts to redress this issue by developing a medical health network in selected sites in rural Peru and Brazil with the help of the collaboration medical application TeleConsult. The medical applications vary from gynaecology, paediatric, cardiology to typical infectious diseases for the region such as malaria and tuberculosis. The examinations will involve ultrasound examination, ECG test and blood test and blood test imaging for automation diagnosis. All the patient information, extracted from the examinations will be stored a health care database, along with the demographic information and medication prescription. The expected benefits will be improved support for medics in the field, reduction of patient referrals, reduction in number of emergency interventions and improved times for medical diagnosis. Importantly, the project has the full support of regional political and health authorities and, importantly, full local community support

TraumaStation: A Portable Telemedicine Station

TraumaStation is a portable medical device which covers the mobility of the medical doctors as well as integrates the diversity of telemedicine devices. Many portable telemedicine devices have been developed the last years in order to help patients in remote areas or in emergency situationns. The medical TraumaStation is a light portable tele-medical first-aid device, which provides the physicians with an ultrasound, electrocardiogram, blood pressure, oxygen meter apparatus all in a suitcase. In addition, the portable device is equipped with all available telecommunication gateways (e.g. GSM, UMTS, ISDN, DSL, Satellite) providing a great communication convenience to the physicians utilizing XMMP instant messaging protocols and real time video conference

TraumaStation: A Portable Telemedicine Station

TraumaStation is a portable medical device which covers the mobility of the medical doctors as well as integrates the diversity of telemedicine devices. Many portable telemedicine devices have been developed the last years in order to help patients in remote areas or in emergency situationns. The medical TraumaStation is a light portable tele-medical first-aid device, which provides the physicians with an ultrasound, electrocardiogram, blood pressure, oxygen meter apparatus all in a suitcase. In addition, the portable device is equipped with all available telecommunication gateways (e.g. GSM, UMTS, ISDN, DSL, Satellite) providing a great communication convenience to the physicians utilizing XMMP instant messaging protocols and real time video conference

MEDical NETwork. MedNET helps rural Peru access health care services with telemedicine via satellite

Currently, patients in rural Peru and Brazil travel long distances just to arrive at a rural health centre. Upon arrival, due to a chronic dearth of medical equipment at these health facilities, a patient receives only basic primary care. Access to specialist physicians is rare. If the physician is uncertain and decides to refer the patient for further consultation and/or examination, only approximately 5% of patients undertake the journey. Consequently, large sections of the community in these regions are effectively disenfranchised from the health service. MedNET, an initiative part funded under the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community (EC), is attempting to tackle this problem of improving access to a quality health care service by enhancing social inclusion for outlying, under-served regions. MedNet will be deployed in both Peru and Brazil and will enable doctors to constantly monitor patients, assisted by an automated infrastructure which promotes the sharing of knowledge and resources between doctors in remote areas and specialists in urban centres and by providing access to medical applications in a range of fields from gynaecology, paediatrics and cardiology to region-specific diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. Additionally, patient information from examinations will be stored in a secure database along with information concerning demographics and medication prescribed