Recently, very large-scale decision support systems (DSSs) have been developed, which tackle very complex problems, associated with very extensive and polymorphic information, which probably is geographically highly dispersed. The management, updating, modification and upgrading of the data and program core of such an information system is, as a rule, a very difficult task, which encompasses many hazards and risks. The purpose of the present work was (a) to list the more significant of these hazards and risks and (b) to introduce a new general methodology for designing decision support (DS) systems that are robust and circumvent these risks. The core of this new approach was the introduction of a meta-database, called teleological, on the base of which management, updating, modification, reduction, growth and upgrading of the system may be safely and efficiently achieved. The very same teleological meta-database can be used for the construction of a sound decision support system, incorporating elements of a previous one at a future stage.

Constant exposure to traffic noise pollution can have significant impact on human health and well being. Occupants of high-rise buildings along noisy traffic arteries are severely affected. In an attempt to contribute to noise protection design of prospective high-rise buildings, traffic noise measurements and prediction using the CRTN (calculation of road traffic noise) model, were made along the façade of a high-rise building in central Athens. The aim was to test the accuracy of this model in predicting the vertical distribution (mapping) of traffic noise along such building façades, under the local urban characteristics of the Mediterranean capital. The predicted and measured noise levels were found to be highly coherent with each other, and their vertical distribution pattern, by and large, confirmed findings from earlier studies. Nevertheless, the predicted values had a tendency of underestimation, with a mean difference −2.2 dB(A) with reference to measured values. It is considered that this underestimation is associated mainly with a newly proposed feature of urban morphology, namely (local) geo-morphology. By and large, it can be inferred that the CRTN model is a useful tool, suitable for the prediction of traffic noise along high-rise building façades during their planning and design stage. The results represent a further step towards more general application of this model, as well as a contribution to the use of this model considering a wider number of urban features.

Energy is an important geopolitical driver, and energy security is an emerging field with growing interest in its measurement. This Chapter is a guide to energy security research that aims to estimate a quantitative energy security index with a geopolitical focus, by providing an in-depth dynamic geopolitical look into the history, evolution, dimensions, data, estimation, taxonomy, and forecasts of energy security. Discussion is complemented with examples from the area of the Southeastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. The Chapter commences with documenting the state of the art of the research literature on energy security. In particular, the definitions, the dimensions, the associated geopolitical issues, the policies, and the quantitative simple indicators and complex indexes of energy security are examined. An alternative to a full panel data approach for research that aims to calculate a quantitative energy security index would be to focus on specific milestone time periods such as the first oil crisis of the 1970s, the first Gulf War of 1990–91, the Russian-Ukrainian disputes (2005–09), and the present time. The Chapter discusses how empirical geographical, energy, socioeconomic, environmental and geopolitical data could be collected, and a novel geopolitical energy security index could be developed with reference to appropriate statistical techniques. A Cluster Analysis of the data and security index values of each milestone time period could provide a dynamic taxonomy of countries, based on their energy security profile, which could be depicted on geopolitical maps. Of particular interest would be to see how countries shifted from one cluster to another over time. Following Cluster Analysis, it is suggested that a case study analysis of the energy security profile of key countries (such as Germany, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Canada, Venezuela, China, India, and Japan) could complement the quantitative approach, and provide an in-depth appreciation of countries, the energy security issues they face, the policies they adopt to address them, and how well the obtained clustering and energy security values capture this knowledge. It is also proposed that any energy security index research include a small number of interviews with energy experts from the government, the academia, and the professional arena. It is advised that these interviews include open-ended questions on the concept of energy security, its evolution through the milestone time periods, the energy security index, the clusters, the geopolitical maps, and energy security policies. Finally, it is proposed that any energy security index research be complemented with forecasts that take into account socioeconomic and geopolitical data, the energy security index values, the dynamic taxonomy, as well as information gleaned from the interviews.

Natural gas is an environmental friendly energy source used in various residential and industrial applications. Gas energy security is high in the agenda of Europe asking for the systematic investigation of all pertinent factors. To this aim a gas network model was developed for testing demand and supply scenarios. Demand scenarios assume that although the total energy demand in Europe will remain at today's level, the share of the natural gas will be increased as: a) more consumers will be added from countries lacking an expanded gas network; b) the share of CNG powered vehicles will be increased. Supply scenarios include current, ongoing and new (in planning phase) pipeline and LNG projects. The analysis revealed the importance of the gas corridor from Azerbaijan and Middle East via Turkey and Greece/Bulgaria and the significance of LNG ports for the alleviation of bottlenecks in the pipeline network.

Energy is an economic, ill-distributed and expensive good, subject to price fluctuations. Energy security arose as a problem of the oil crises of the 1970s, and it has become a matter of national security, although its definition depends on geographical location, natural resource endowment, international relations, political system, economic disposition, and ideological perceptions. Although there is no universally accepted definition of energy security, a succinct way to approach it is through the four As: availability, affordability, accessibility (to all), and acceptability (from a sustainability standpoint). Energy security may be measured by numerous indicators, with no single accepted methodology being ideal for all historical and geopolitical circumstances. Dimensions of the concept of energy security include: the environment, technology, demand side management, sociocultural and political factors, human security, geopolitical considerations, and the formulation of energy security policy. Alternatively, energy security may be considered to have five dimensions that may be broken down into 20 components, as follows: (a) availability, i.e. security of supply and production, dependency, and diversification; (b) affordability, i.e. price stability, access and equity, decentralization, and low prices; (c) technology development, i.e. innovation and research, safety and reliability, resilience, energy efficiency, and investment; (d) sustainability (environmental component), i.e. land use, water, climate change, and air pollution; and (e) regulation, i.e. governance, trade, competition, and knowledge of sound regulation. Energy security contains multiple components, including: geography, nuclear energy, economy, society, environment policy and political institutions. There are many energy security indicators and indexes that include different dimensions and attributes, such as the Herfindahl-Hirschmann Index, the Oil Vulnerability Index, the Vulnerability Index, the Aggregated Energy Security Performance Indicator, the US Energy Security Risk Index, the Energy Architecture Performance Index, and the Energy Trilemma (or Sustainability) Index. The paper is rounded up with a short discussion of the geopolitical role of energy security.

This paper reports on the development and application of a regression model aiming to assess the touristim potential of the Greek islands of South Aegean. The model considers physical characteristics, accommodation infrastructure and transportation options (sea and air services) in order to conclude on the explanatory variables determining the tourism development and reveal the tourism potential of the less developed islands of the region. It was found that having an airport with a runway long enough to support international air traffic, especially for islands far away from their nearest port, and maintaining a strong online presence, boost island tourism. A lengthier and more tortuous coastline also increased tourism, possibly acting as a surrogate for accessibility to swimming and other marine entertainment activities. Future research will examine the number of tourists incoming by sea vs air as well as domestic vs international tourism in the entire Aegean sea.

The current work focuses on the islands of the South Aegean and attempts to highlight the importance of airport infrastructure for their tourism development. The impact of other island characteristics (area, shore length, population, number of beds in various classes of accommodation, cost of accommodation, island’s attractiveness, distance from Piraeus port, etc.) was also investigated using regression analysis. The results revealed that airports having runways above 1,800m serve direct international flights and have a very significant contribution to the tourism development of the associated islands. On the contrary, islands having airports with short runways are served through Athens International Airport yet, the number of tourist arrivals by air is low, having a minor impact on their tourism product. The characteristics of these islands indicate that they have strong potential for further tourism growth given that their airport infrastructure will be improved overcoming technical and environmental barriers.

The main goal of train loading optimization is the proper assignment of loading units onto the wagons, taking under consideration numerous factors like the maximum axle load restrictions, the condition of the railway infrastructure, the operating conditions, safety regulations etc. The typical expression of the problem is usually formulated under one of the two following assumptions: (a) the commodity load is predefined or (b) the number and type of wagons is fixed. The current work describes the steps that were followed and enabled the analysis, optimization and integration of the train loading plan into the information system that supports the new railway service of TRAINOSE for containers transport on the Athens - Thessaloniki line. This new service, named iCS, was launched in December 2013 and ever since operates on a daily basis. The work includes a literature review, a mention of the pragmatic aspects that influence container transport and train loading plan, the presentation of the heuristic which is implemented in the information system of iCS service, a validation process against a mixed integer optimization model and finally concludes with the proposed solution for the iCS wagon loading problem.

Maritime container terminals are complex systems consisting of various interrelated components. Among them, the subsystem performing the container transfer between the quay and the container storage areas is of critical importance as any inefficiency in feeding a quay crane with containers affects negatively the performance of the whole sea-side operation. The current work conducts an investigation of the parameters affecting the performance of this subsystem and attempts to resolve a contradiction concerning the effectiveness of pooled transfer equipment strategy. The analysis was performed by use of a simulation model for an ideal container berth with an adjacent stack area. Inbound and outgoing container bundling techniques were investigated in combination with pooled equipment strategies. The main outcome is that when quay is linear, the container bundling is effective when it takes place between quay cranes of the same vessel or even between quay cranes of adjacent vessels.

Environmental protection is an issue that rises in importance in the agenda of the priorities in transportation sector. Railways are perceived to contribute positively towards such a direction. The current work focuses on the actual parameters that affect energy and emissions in rail freight transport. These parameters were investigated using a model. Input variables include technical and operational characteristics of the railway track, the rolling stock and the loading units as well as the restrictions of the wagons' loading process, which prevent railways to operate at full capacity. The model was validated on the main Greek railway corridor connecting Athens to Thessaloniki. The analysis revealed and quantified the impacts affecting energy and emissions: train load factor, train speed, gradient profile of railway track, rolling stock types, payload of transported loading units, rules of efficient wagon loading, fuel type and emission factor for electricity generation in the specific country. Comparisons with pure road transport and sensitivity analysis were also carried out on the Athens-Thessaloniki case study.

A substantial number of publish works for maritime container terminals focuses on the Quay to Storage area subsystem investigating locational, scheduling and job assignment problems for various equipment configuration, work plan formations, operating conditions and optimization objectives. The current work attempts to review published works in a way that reveals problems investigated, simplifications and assumptions in model formation, solution approaches and fruitful outcomes. Issues related to ship loading and unloading operations, assignment strategies of transfer vehicles, job assignment techniques etc are analyzed; contradictory outcomes are resolved and comments about the representativeness and applicability of the proposed models in real world problems are outlined.

Wagon fleet is an essential component of the railways business. Motivated by the recent concern on freight wagon management in Europe and based on the experience from the deployment and pilot demonstrations of an advanced wagon management system in Europe, the current work presents main technological and organizational issues associated with a wagon pool, created and used by a railway operator partnership. The results include the identification of the essential hardware and software requirements for the implementation of such a system (user/wagon reservation, track-and-trace and energy-saver equipment, loading/unloading sensors, wagon dispatching and delay management functionalities) as well as the outcome of the investigation of significant organizational aspects of the system (imbalance between wagon offer and wagon demand, fair allocation of benefits among the users of the system, savings that can be achieved thanks to estimated time of arrival information, consideration of reliability metrics into the optimal empty wagons allocation problem).

Inland terminals are valuable elements of the transportation system as they facilitate freight transport activities, support environmentally friendly modes, relieve cities and ports from congestion, and offer warehousing and distribution logistic services. Various inland terminal types exist, and even more (confusing or even conflicting) terms are used for their designation. The current chapter presents the basic operational concepts reflected by the existing terminal types, mainly in terms of logistic activities (attempting in parallel to tackle the fuzziness in terminology). Furthermore, a number of innovative technological concepts proposed for the enhancement of inland terminal performance are presented.

Air cargo represents an increasingly significant share of the transport market. In addition to mail, express, and emergency cargoes, air transportation is being used for the new market niches of perishable commodities and just-in-time deliveries. The transport and processing of these cargoes is performed by a specialized system that includes dedicated loading units, transport modes, equipment, airport installations, and commercial organization. An overview of this system focuses on the design of airport cargo facilities, describes an analytical method that allows the sizing of storage facilities with low computational effort, and refers to modeling approaches (mainly simulation-based) that can be used for a detailed investigation of various air cargo terminal design aspects.

The development of a freight village in the region of Thriasio, located nearby to Athens is an ongoing project in its early stage. In the present paper three alternative designs of the freight village layout are compared by means of multicriteria analysis and more specifically using the PROMETHEE method. The multicriteria framework consists of selecting the most meaningful criteria of evaluation and the required decision parameters (weights of criteria, indifference and preference thresholds etc). Besides the benefits obtained from the well structured decision approach that offers a deeper insight in the problem, the results of the multicriteria analysis reveal the preference order of the alternative designs.