Category Archives: Urban meteorology

The sky is the limit – How tall buildings affect wind and air quality

Posted on 29 April, 2019 by danaallen

By: Denise Hertwig Based on current UN estimates, by 2050 over 6.6 billion people (68% of the total population) will be living in cities. Across the world, tall (> 50 m height) and super-tall (> 300 m) buildings already define … Continue reading →

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SuPy: An urban land surface model for Pythonista

Posted on 18 March, 2019 by danaallen

By: Ting Sun Python is now extensively employed by the atmospheric sciences community for data analyses and numerical modelling thanks to its simplicity and the large scientific Python ecosystem (e.g., PyData community). Although I cherish Mathematica as my native programming … Continue reading →

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Remodelling Building Design Sustainability from a Human Centred Approach (Refresh) project overview

Posted on 4 February, 2019 by danaallen

By: Hannah Gough In 2014, 54 % of the world’s population resided in an urban area and this is projected to rise to 66 % by 2050 (United Nations, 2014). It is also estimated that 90 % of people’s time in … Continue reading →

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The Role of Synoptic Meteorology on UK Air Pollution

Posted on 14 August, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Chris Webber In the past year the issue of air pollution within the UK has been elevated, driven by the loss of life that it causes (in 2013 > 500,000 years of UK lives lost due to air pollution … Continue reading →

Posted in Aerosols, Atmospheric chemistry, Boundary layer, Environmental hazards, Urban meteorology | Tagged | Leave a comment

Responding to the threat of hazardous pollutant releases in cities

Posted on 24 July, 2017 by Met Department

By Denise Hertwig High population density and restricted evacuation options make cities particularly vulnerable to threats posed by air-borne contaminants released into the atmosphere through industrial accidents or terrorist attacks. In order to issue evacuation or sheltering advice to the … Continue reading →

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Can the use of CCTV images improve urban flooding forecasts?

Posted on 3 April, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Sanita Vetra-Carvalho Urban flooding can result from intense rainfall, flash floods, coastal floods or river floods, the same as in rural areas. However, in cities, unlike in rural areas, there is very little open soil available for water storage … Continue reading →

Posted in data assimilation, Environmental hazards, Hydrology, Urban meteorology | Leave a comment

Understanding Summer Flash Flooding

Posted on 20 June, 2016 by Stephen Burt

By Adrian Champion ‘Flash flooding’ is flooding that only lasts between a few hours and a day and typically has very little warning. There are many causes of flash flooding, from the meteorological conditions that lead to the rainfall that … Continue reading →

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Predicting the airborne spread of hazardous releases in urban areas

Posted on 7 March, 2016 by Stephen Burt

By Omduth Coceal The threat of terrorist attacks, like the risk of accidents, is an unfortunate probability that we need to take seriously and be prepared for. A particularly challenging problem is to be able to predict the spread of potentially … Continue reading →

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Summer in the City – Materials, 3D Morphology and Urban Surface Temperatures

Posted on 7 September, 2015 by Stephen Burt

By Simone Kotthaus Who would have guessed that a zebra-crossing could go viral without a band walking across?! But this year it happened to pictures of a road in Delhi, India as the asphalt softened under soaring heat-wave conditions that … Continue reading →

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Carbon exchanges in cities and woodlands of southern England

Posted on 27 April, 2015 by Stephen Burt

By Sue Grimmond Cities are major contributors to recent carbon dioxide (CO2) rises in the atmosphere.  Emissions come from multiple sources, including vehicles, domestic heating/cooling, industrial activities and directly from people. While a large number of studies have focused on … Continue reading →

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