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Climate sensitive designs for policy makers: How LES model resolution affects accuracy in capturing urban micro-scale weather during heatwaves

Title data

Sungur, Leyla ; Babel, Wolfgang ; Späte, Eva ; Schneider, Johann ; Thomas, Christoph:
Climate sensitive designs for policy makers: How LES model resolution affects accuracy in capturing urban micro-scale weather during heatwaves.
In: Urban Climate. Vol. 61 (2025) . - 102400.
ISSN 2212-0955
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102400

Official URL: Volltext

Project information

Project title:
Project's official title
Project's id
Minderung Städtischer Klima- und Ozonrisiken, Verbundprojekt Klimawandel und Gesundheit
K3-8503-PN 18-17

Project financing: Andere
Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit

Abstract in another language

Climate sensitive designs have been implemented recently in science to fill the niche of developing scientific tools to help mitigating urban heat island effects. A model capable of identifying hot and cool spots and testing adaptation and mitigation strategies to form recommendations for policy makers is in high demand. We present a novel two-step validation approach using 1) absolute comparison and 2) space-time evaluation of model performance across resolutions and against observations ensemble-averaged for representative urban microclimate types. Two Large Eddy Simulation (LES) models with 5 m and 20 m resolution are evaluated against a 14-point measurement station network during an extreme heatwave in Germany. To show space time behavior relationship between model and measurements, multiresolution decomposition (MRD) was used to investigate air temperature, specific humidity, and wind speed across time scales ranging from 11.25 to 180 min. The MRD analysis revealed strong correlations between stations with similar microclimatic conditions. Increasing model resolution did not uniformly improve accuracy across all climate elements; wind speed showed the greatest benefit from higher resolution. Absolute comparisons between simulations and observations demonstrated well-represented diurnal cycles for 5 m wind speed, whereas scalar variables remained sensitive to land surface parameterization. The simulated specific humidity exhibited deviations from measurements and nighttime air temperature tended to be overestimated. Space-time behavior instead was generally well captured except for nighttime specific humidity. This study contributes to correctly identifying and quantifying urban heat effects during extremes and supports urban planners and decision-makers in evaluating modeling tools for spatial planning.

Further data

Item Type: Article in a journal
Refereed: Yes
Keywords: LES simulation; Model validation; Multiresolution decomposition; PALM-4 U; Urban heat modeling; Urban health; Recommendation for policy makers
Institutions of the University: Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences
Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences > Department of Earth Sciences
Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences > Department of Earth Sciences > Professor Micrometeorology
Faculties > Faculty of Biology, Chemistry and Earth Sciences > Department of Earth Sciences > Professor Micrometeorology > Professor Micrometeorology - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christoph K. Thomas
Profile Fields > Advanced Fields > Ecology and the Environmental Sciences
Profile Fields > Advanced Fields > Nonlinear Dynamics
Result of work at the UBT: Yes
DDC Subjects: 500 Science
500 Science > 550 Earth sciences, geology
Date Deposited: 22 Apr 2025 06:09
Last Modified: 22 Apr 2025 06:09
URI: https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/93335