Meteorological information for climate-proof urban planning - The example of KLIMPRAX

Abstract

The aim of the KLIMPRAX (climate in municipal practice) project was to improve the extent to which urban climate considerations - including adaptation to climate change – are incorporated in municipal planning processes.High resolution meteorological information about the current and future urban climate, with the main focus on heat load, was provided for the model cities Wiesbaden and Mainz. The MUKLIMO_3 urban climate model and the cuboid method were used to downscale an ensemble of 17 regional climate projections to a grid size of 100 m. The climate analysis also includes the effects of nocturnal cold air drainage flows.Simulations based on the present level of urban development were compared with those including no development. The results indicate that, in densely built-up areas, the increase in summer climate indices attributable to urban development is of a similar magnitude to that due to climate change. They also show that cold air drainage flows play an important role in providing relief for heat-affected areas.The “co-creation” process, involving both climate experts and municipal agencies, demonstrated that the transfer of the meteorological information into maps suitable for practical use in municipal planning is a challenging, but crucial step that requires intensive interdisciplinary discussion.