About Our Organisation
Geosphere Austria is Austria’s national weather service and provides products and services in the areas of meteorology, climate, and geology to stakeholders and the public. The Urban Modelling section is actively involved in investigating the climate within and around cities. Through the use and development of microscale climate models and statistical methods to analyse model and observational data, the Urban Heat Island (UHI) is simulated with the aim of finding neighbourhoods that exhibit excessive heat, which may be problematic for citizens. Adaptation measures to reduce the UHI effect that involve changes within the city are modelled to examine their impact. Much of our work is done in collaboration with city planners, which requires knowledge of where future development may create adverse conditions for citizens, especially when combined with the temperature increase expected from climate change.
Our Role in KNOWING
Our role in KNOWING is to provide knowledge of urban climate science along with modelling tools and methods to investigate the impact that changes within the city landscape can have. Modifications to land use (e.g. replacement of asphalt paths with grass, car lots with parks) or people’s behaviour (e.g. fewer cars/air conditioners resulting in less anthropogenic heat) can be modelled to quantify the impact this has on temperature, for example. Working together with stakeholders will allow the relevant changes for the demonstrator and follower regions to be identified. The output will be used by KNOWING partners to establish how these impacts will affect other sectors, allowing an evaluation of the climate mitigation pathway under investigation.
Why KNOWING Matters to Us
We are excited to participate in KNOWING, as it provides an opportunity to connect with stakeholders and experts from different disciplines with the same goal of identifying adaptation and mitigation strategies that can lead to a more sustainable level of existence and to climate neutrality in the near future.
