by Andreas Christen

Urban Climate News June 2021

2021-07-12 in Newsletter

Issue 80, June 2021

The latest issue of “Urban Climate News” (Issue 80, June 2021) is now available. President Nigel Tapper reports on the ongoing challenges and severe restrictions of international travel to and from Australia that unfortunately continue to impacts the planned ICUC-11 in 2022 and the needs to further postpone ICUC-11. The newsletter further features a story of collaboration on urban climate between PhD graduates. A project report highlights the interactions between urban environments with regional climate change. Further the news that past IAUC president Professor Sue Grimmond was awarded the prestigious Symons Gold Medal of the Royal Meteorological Society. Finally the newsletter features calls for two new board members and lists the latest statistics on membership diversity.

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by Andreas Christen

IAUC Board: Call for two nominations

2021-07-12 in IAUC Admin, IAUC Statements, Members

We are calling for nominations for two new members of the Board of the International Association for Urban Climate (IAUC) for the term 2022 – 2025. This is to replace Benjamin Bechtel (Ruhr-University Bochum) and Chao Ren (The University of Hong Kong) whose terms on the Board expire in 2021. We thank Benjamin Bechtel and Chao Ren for their commitment and contributions to IAUC while serving on the Board.

The Board is seeking new members eager to play an active role in the development of the Association and who reflect the diversity of our membership. The deadline for nominations is August 31 2021, 11:59 pm (UTC).

The IAUC is committed to and promotes inclusive and equitable participation of a diverse community in its membership. Based on our diversity statement, we strongly encourage nominations of candidates who diversify the board in terms of fields of study, geographical location, gender, etc. We further encourage nominations of young scholars, including graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

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by Andreas Christen

Be aware of fraudulent IAUC emails

2021-07-05 in IAUC Statements

During recent days, several IAUC members have confirmed that they received fraudulent emails seemingly originating from our president or board members with subjects like “IAUC LOGISTICS SUPPORT REQUEST” asking for bank information and personal data. Please be careful and do not respond to such emails. IAUC would never ask for such information by email. The emails do not originate from our president, the board member nor any member of the IAUC community even if they are signed with proper names and original email addresses. We are currently investigating if and possibly how IAUC membership emails were obtained and ensure our true emails are have an electronic certificate.

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by Andreas Christen

Past-IAUC president Sue Grimmond receives prestigious Symons Gold Medal 

2021-06-08 in Awards, Members

Professor Sue Grimmond, past IAUC president, has received the Royal Meteorological Society’s prestigious Symons Gold Medal. The Symons Gold Medal is awarded every two years to recognise notable work in connection with meteorological science. 

Professor Grimmond’s nomination recognises her research excellence in understanding urban climates, her outstanding contribution to improving the environment in cities around the world, and the selfless fostering of young researchers. Her long-term observations and unique datasets have had a significant impact on weather and climate predictions and understanding the effects of air pollution, which has influenced long-term urban planning and policy. Through her work with leading organisations such as the World Meteorological Organization, Met Office and the IAUC, she has ensured that cutting edge science can be translated into operational services for the built environment. 

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by Andreas Christen

Fourth IAUC webinar – Local climate zones

2021-05-05 in Events, Webinar

Iain Stewart (left) and Matthias Demuzere (right) will present on the history, use and future directions of the LCZ system

The IAUC is pleased to invite to a fourth IAUC webinar on May 27 14:00 UTC where we will discuss past, current, and future research related to local climate zones (LCZs) with the world’s experts. Nowadays, the LCZ classification system is used in many studies, ranging from measurement site classification, urban planning, to numerical weather prediction. In this webinar the following presenters will explore how the LCZ’s came into being and how they can be used.

  • Dr Iain Stewart (University of Toronto, Canada ) “Personal reflections on the LCZ classification system”
  • Dr Matthias Demuzere (Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany) “LCZ mapping, a means to many ends”
  • Facilitated Q&A and discussions (~ 40 mins)

We are looking forward to your joining this webinar and celebrating and engaging with the urban community. Use this link to register.

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by Andreas Christen

Call for nominations – 2021 Luke Howard Award

2021-04-08 in Awards

The IAUC is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the 2021 ‘Luke Howard Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Urban Climatology.’ The Luke Howard Award may be given annually to an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the field of urban climatology in a combination of research, teaching, and/or service to the international community of urban climatologists.

The IAUC is committed to promoting equality and diversity. Therefore, we particularly encourage nominations for suitable candidates from undermrepresented groups.

The intent to nominate is due by Friday 2 May 2021. Full packages have to be submitted by Friday 25 June 2021.

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by Andreas Christen

Call for nominations – 2021 Timothy Oke Award

2021-04-08 in Awards

The Award is named in honour of Professor Timothy Oke, as recognition of his outstanding research career, his support for young urban climatologists and his unprecedented contributions to both urban climatology and the establishment of the IAUC.

The IAUC is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the 2021 ‘Timothy Oke Award for Original Research in the Field of Urban Climatology’. The Timothy Oke Award was established in 2020 and is given annually to early- and mid-career researchers who have conducted original research with high impact in the field of urban climate science.

Nominations should thus focus on a particularly relevant study or collection of papers and their impact. Eligible candidates should be approximately 3-12 years after PhD and will be assessed in accordance with their career stage. Nominations for candidates which fall outside these guidelines should be justified.

The IAUC is committed to promoting equality and diversity. Therefore we particularly encourage nominations for suitable candidates from underrepresented groups.

The note of intent to nominate an individual bis due by Friday 28 May 2021. Complete nomination packages should then be submitted (as a single electronic submission) by Friday 25 June 2021 to the IAUC Awards Committee Chair, Dr Helen Ward: helen.ward (at) uibk.ac.at. Read the rest of this entry →

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by Andreas Christen

Urban Climate News March 2021

2021-04-07 in Newsletter

Issue 79, March 2021

The latest issue of “Urban Climate News” (Issue 79, March 2021) is now available. It includes a feature on crowdsourcing urban wind data and on a new web application to create Local Climate Zone maps. A scientific reports reviews challenges of urban roughness representation and impacts webinar on forests, nature, and public space during the global pandemic.

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by Andreas Christen

Third IAUC webinar – The journey of modern urban climate

2021-03-30 in Events, Webinar


Nigel Tapper (left) and Gerald Mills (right) will share their perspectives on the history and future directions of modern urban climate

The IAUC is pleased to organize a third IAUC webinar on 15 April 11:00 UTC featuring two thought leaders in our fields sharing their perspectives on the history and future directions of modern urban climate:

  • Professor Gerald Mills (University College Dublin, Ireland) “The beginning of modern urban climatology”  (~ 15 mins)
  • Professor Nigel Tapper (Monash University, Australia) “Some thoughts on future directions for urban climate and the IAUC” (~ 15 mins)
  • Facilitated Q&A and discussions  (~ 30 mins)

Use this link to register.

These are challenging times in which we live, both in terms of critical scientific questions to be resolved in urban climate, and in relation to the difficult global environment in which we currently operate. In these presentations, we plan to stimulate discussion by providing some reflections on the history, role, and responsibilities of the urban climatology community along with developing opportunities.

We are looking forward to your joining this webinar and celebrating and engaging with the urban community.
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by Andreas Christen

Joint international climate communiqué

2021-03-23 in IAUC Admin, IAUC Statements

Weather and climate services and observations are essential to support the assessment of climate risk and inform mitigation and adaptation strategies including in cities. We urge governments to support service providers with appropriate resources to sustain crucial services and observations.

Together with national meteorological societies and associations, the IAUC is taking the occasion of today’s World Meteorology Day to reiterate the critical importance of addressing climate change.

The effects of human-produced greenhouse gases on the climate are increasingly and overwhelmingly evident. The three warmest years on record, including 2020 (at about 1.2°C higher than before the industrial revolution), have all occurred since the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit climate change. The global average temperature was near a record high in 2020 despite the presence of a temporary cooling of the Pacific due to La Niña, thus indicating a continued underlying warming trend.

We stress that to meet the Paris goals, the world needs to raise its ambition significantly to be in line with the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

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