Developing Early Warning Systems for Greek Municipalities and Regions

The METEO Unit of the National Observatory of Athens has developed a suite of operational early warning systems for five Greek municipalities and one region, aimed at providing timely observational and forecast information to support preparedness and decision-making for weather-related and environmental hazards. This study presents the design, technological architecture, and operational implementation of these systems as a multi-site case study. The systems follow a common modular architecture that integrates near-real-time observations from meteorological, water-level, and air-quality sensors with satellite and lightning observations and numerical forecasts of weather, fire danger, and mineral-dust transport. All products are processed and displayed through web-based platforms accessible from personal computers, tablets, and mobile devices, while automated notifications are generated when predefined observational or forecast thresholds are exceeded. The common architecture has been adapted to the distinct hazard profiles and operational requirements of Kilkis, Nevrokopi, Athens, Penteli, Rethymno, and the Region of Thessaly. The individual implementations address different combinations of flooding, strong winds, temperature extremes, wildfire danger, frost, Saharan dust, and particulate-matter pollution. The results demonstrate that a shared technological framework can be transferred across contrasting geographical settings while allowing the observational equipment, forecast products, warning thresholds, and presentation of information to be tailored to local needs. The developed systems provide an operational example of locally embedded, multi-hazard early warning services and establish a flexible basis for the future integration of additional observations, forecast products, and impact-oriented flood-forecasting capabilities.