Urban expansion takes massive proportions in recent years, and population is expected to reach 60% by 2030. The combined effect of global climate change and rapid urbanization makes the residents of urban areas more vulnerable to a range of urban environmental problems, including high air pollution levels, inability to manage energy consumption, overburdened thermal bioclimate and heat-related deaths. These problems are strongly connected with the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, that is considered to be one of the most representative and well-documented manifestation of climate modifications due to urbanization. The 3-year long EU LIFE ASTI project (Implementation of a forecAsting System for urban heaT Island effect for the development of urban adaptation strategies) started at the end of 2018 to design, implement, and validate a forecasting system combined with a heat health warning tool for the short-term prediction of the UHI, especially during heat wave events, in two Mediterranean cities - Thessaloniki and Rome. The expected results will also be used to further investigate the UHI climate change impact over the two cities, as well as to perform sensitivity studies for quantifying, assessing and promoting mitigation plans to reduce UHI risks.
The LIFE ASTI project to forecast urban heat island effect
Casasanta G;Petenko I;Argentini;
2019
Abstract
Urban expansion takes massive proportions in recent years, and population is expected to reach 60% by 2030. The combined effect of global climate change and rapid urbanization makes the residents of urban areas more vulnerable to a range of urban environmental problems, including high air pollution levels, inability to manage energy consumption, overburdened thermal bioclimate and heat-related deaths. These problems are strongly connected with the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, that is considered to be one of the most representative and well-documented manifestation of climate modifications due to urbanization. The 3-year long EU LIFE ASTI project (Implementation of a forecAsting System for urban heaT Island effect for the development of urban adaptation strategies) started at the end of 2018 to design, implement, and validate a forecasting system combined with a heat health warning tool for the short-term prediction of the UHI, especially during heat wave events, in two Mediterranean cities - Thessaloniki and Rome. The expected results will also be used to further investigate the UHI climate change impact over the two cities, as well as to perform sensitivity studies for quantifying, assessing and promoting mitigation plans to reduce UHI risks.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.