by Andreas Christen

Fourth IAUC webinar – Local climate zones

2021-05-05 in Newsletter

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 2020

The latest issue of “Urban Climate News” (Issue 79, March 2021) is now available. The latest issue of “Urban Climate News” (Issue 78, December 2020) 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 IAUC Admin, Meetings, Members


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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by Andreas Christen

Urban Climate News December 2020

2021-01-14 in Newsletter

Issue 78, December 2020

The latest issue of “Urban Climate News” (Issue 78, December 2020) is now available. The issue features studies looking at air quality in cities during COVID-19 lockdowns in Italy and the effect of vertical urban development on microclimates in Balneário Camboriú, Brazil. It further reports on the new IAUC Webinar Series launched by the IAUC Community Engagement Committee.

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by Andreas Christen

Second IAUC webinar on extreme heat in cities – Chao Ren and Scott Krayenhoff

2020-12-11 in Newsletter

 

The IAUC is pleased to invite you to the second IAUC webinar on 15/16 December (depending on your timezone), that will celebrate our very own Timothy Oke Award winners: Chao Ren and Scott Krayenhoff, both winners in 2020.

Date and time: 16 December 01:00 UTC*.

Theme: Celebrating IAUC’s Timothy Oke award winners and discussion on ‘Extreme heat in cities: health impacts and mitigation strategies’.

Program:

  • Chao Ren (University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong): Investigating extreme urban heat and its impact on health (~ 15 mins)
  • Scott Krayenhoff (University of Guelph, Canada): Infrastructure-based adaptation to extreme urban heat (~ 15 mins)
  • Discussion with all of you about extreme heat in cities health impacts and mitigation strategies, lead by Dev Niyogi (University of Texas, USA). (~ 30 mins)

We are looking forward to your joining this webinar and celebrating and engaging with the urban community. Participants can register here: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/urban-climate-webinar-series-2-extreme-urban-heat-tickets-132472235021

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by Andreas Christen

New Engagement Committee hosts monthly webinars starting November 6

2020-10-21 in IAUC Admin, IAUC Statements, Meetings, Members, Resources

The IAUC is looking forward to engage with you and continue the Urban Climate dialogue despite the ongoing global pandemic. We have formed an Engagement Committee with a plan for virtual activities in the absence of face-to-face events in 2020-2021. As part of this effort, we are initiating monthly virtual webinars that include presentations and discussions.

We are very pleased to invite you to the historic, first IAUC webinar 6 November that will celebrate our very own Luke Howard Award winners: Janet Barlow (2019 winner) and Alberto Martilli (2020 winner).

Date and time: 6 November 11:00 – 12:15 UTC, which is 6:00 New York (EST), 12:00 in Paris (CET), 16:30 in Dehli (IST), 19:00 in Beijing (CST), and 22:00 in Sydney (AEDT).

Theme: Celebrating IAUC’s Luke Howard award winners and discussion on ‘Observing and Modelling the Urban Boundary Layer’.

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by Andreas Christen

ICUC-11 postponed to August 2022

2020-10-05 in IAUC Admin, IAUC Statements, Meetings

In consultation with our members, the Board of the IAUC along with the local organizers has decided to postpone the 11th International Conference on Urban Climate (ICUC-11) for a year from August 2021 until August 2022 (August 29th – September 2nd, 2022). The ICUC Organizing Committee recently surveyed the urban climate community to ask how COVID-19 may impact their ability to submit an abstract, attend the conference at proposed dates, possible future postponement dates, and what their preferences are for face-to-face versus virtual components. Overall, 217 responses were received from 45 different countries with an overwhelming response that the conference should be postponed to 2022. The complete report of this survey can be found here.

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