Urban Climate

It is estimated that in the middle of the century two thirds of the global population will live in cities where they will be exposed to the ups and downs of the local weather. Hence, knowledge and understanding of the weather and climate in cities is important, especially since both is affected directly and locally by urban structures such as buildings and sealed surfaces.

Understanding weather in cities and the urban climate and it how it is influenced are research subjects of the Meteorological Institute. Processes of the urban system are observed, quantified and modelled (e.g. location of the urban heat island production; precipitation influence of the city; wind comfort in urban areas; urban air quality). Therefore, field measurements are taken by the HUSCO network, physical modelling is performed in the wind tunnels of the EWTL and statistical analysis and numerical model studies are performed the obstacle resolving model MITRAS, and the mesoscale model METRAS. In order to gain a better understanding of the processes in the urban system, a collaborative analysis of data collected from the different methods is performed. New knowledge is incorporated in teaching of urban climate.

Working groups: Atmospheric Measurements / Process Modelling, Atmospheric Turbulence and Boundary Layers, Environmental Wind Tunnel Laboratory – EWTL