\documentclass[10pt]{article}

\usepackage{fullpage}
\usepackage{setspace}
\usepackage{parskip}
\usepackage{titlesec}
\usepackage[section]{placeins}
\usepackage{xcolor}
\usepackage{breakcites}
\usepackage{lineno}
\usepackage{hyphenat}





\PassOptionsToPackage{hyphens}{url}
\usepackage[colorlinks = true,
            linkcolor = blue,
            urlcolor  = blue,
            citecolor = blue,
            anchorcolor = blue]{hyperref}
\usepackage{etoolbox}
\makeatletter
\patchcmd\@combinedblfloats{\box\@outputbox}{\unvbox\@outputbox}{}{%
  \errmessage{\noexpand\@combinedblfloats could not be patched}%
}%
\makeatother


\usepackage{natbib}




\renewenvironment{abstract}
  {{\bfseries\noindent{\abstractname}\par\nobreak}\footnotesize}
  {\bigskip}

\titlespacing{\section}{0pt}{*3}{*1}
\titlespacing{\subsection}{0pt}{*2}{*0.5}
\titlespacing{\subsubsection}{0pt}{*1.5}{0pt}


\usepackage{authblk}


\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage[space]{grffile}
\usepackage{latexsym}
\usepackage{textcomp}
\usepackage{longtable}
\usepackage{tabulary}
\usepackage{booktabs,array,multirow}
\usepackage{amsfonts,amsmath,amssymb}
\providecommand\citet{\cite}
\providecommand\citep{\cite}
\providecommand\citealt{\cite}
% You can conditionalize code for latexml or normal latex using this.
\newif\iflatexml\latexmlfalse
\providecommand{\tightlist}{\setlength{\itemsep}{0pt}\setlength{\parskip}{0pt}}%

\AtBeginDocument{\DeclareGraphicsExtensions{.pdf,.PDF,.eps,.EPS,.png,.PNG,.tif,.TIF,.jpg,.JPG,.jpeg,.JPEG}}

\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage[ngerman,english]{babel}



\usepackage{float}








\begin{document}

\title{Atmospheric Circulation Characteristics associated with wildfires
occurrence in the Mediterranean Basin}



\author[1]{IOANNIS MANTHOS}%
\author[2]{ELIAS HOUSSOS}%
\author[1]{NIKOLAOS KOUTSIAS}%
\author[2]{NIKOLAOS HATZIANASTASSIOU}%
\author[1]{ANGELIKI FOTIADI}%
\affil[1]{Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Management, University of Patras, Patras, Greece}%
\affil[2]{Laboratory of Meteorology, Department of Physics, University of Ioannina, Greece}%


\vspace{-1em}



  
  \date{June 10, 2024}


\begingroup
\let\center\flushleft
\let\endcenter\endflushleft
\maketitle
\endgroup





\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{abstract}
Wildfires have been recognized as an intrinsic factor of the Earth system
affecting vegetation functioning, structure and distribution with
consequent impacts on terrestrial ecosystems, biogeochemical cycle,
atmospheric composition, surface albedo and climate. At the same time,
large uncontrolled fires are an environmental hazard due to their adverse
effects on natural systems, the economy and human health. Wildfires
regime is controlled by both, natural and human factors, such as
vegetation type and cover, climate, weather, land management practices
including human ignitions. Weather in particular, plays a key role in
fire ignition and fire behavior as well, in terms of spreading, severity
and suppression. Frequently, large fire events are the synergistic result
of fuel load and anomalous atmospheric conditions. This work examines
the atmospheric circulation characteristics associated with wildfires
events occurring in the Mediterranean basin, a region which counts the
most fires, and hence burned areas, in Europe. Wildfire data, namely
ignition date and total burned area, are taken from MODIS (MODerate
resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) database over the period
2002-2016. For our analysis 2533 wildfires with a burned area of at least
500ha, which occurred in 871 days during the warm period of the year
(May to September) are considered. In order to identify the atmospheric
circulation characteristics associated with those wildfires, gridded
(2.5\selectlanguage{ngerman}°x 2.5°) NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data of 500 and 1000hPa geopotential
height and 1000hPa temperature over the broader European area and 850hPa
relative humidity across the Mediterranean basin are analyzed. Following
the synergistic application of Factor Analysis for data dimensionality
reduction, and Cluster analysis for the objective classi\selectlanguage{english}fication of daily
synoptic conditions, seven (7) homogenous and distinct to each other
mean atmospheric circulation patterns emerged. Speci\selectlanguage{english}fic characteristics
of the revealed patterns favor the ignition and spread of wild\selectlanguage{english}fires in
certain regions of the Mediterranean Basin. Wild\selectlanguage{english}fires in the Balkan
Peninsula are favored by the intensi\selectlanguage{english}fication of the northerly \selectlanguage{english}flow over
the region, due to the strengthening of the pressure gradient between
the enhanced and spatially extended Azores Subtropical Anticyclone and
the Asian thermal low. Iberian Peninsula wild\selectlanguage{english}fires are associated with
the dominance of dry and windy conditions, controlled by the relative
position and strength of the anticyclonic circulation over the Atlantic
Ocean, whereas a thermal low developed over southern Spain and/or
northwestern Africa plays also a key role.%
\end{abstract}\selectlanguage{ngerman}%



\sloppy




\selectlanguage{english}
\FloatBarrier
\end{document}

