URBAN CLIMATE SUMMER SCHOOL


Organizers : Research Institute of University of Bucharest (ICUB), Urban Climate Research Center at Arizona State University (ASU), Ghent University (Belgium), National Meteorological Administration (Meteo Romania) , Interdisciplinary Center of Advanced Research on Territorial Dynamics (CICADIT).

Rationale and goals : Cities nowadays provide facilities and services, business opportunities and cultural attractions of unprecedented complexity, triggering more than a half of the world population to strive for comfort and safety in urban areas. The scientific community, local authorities, stakeholders and public show high and constant interest for evaluating the environmental impact of the metropolitan regions, in order to better use the current resources and prepare for future challenges. Cities are vital in the response to climate change and urban population increase. Urban-induced effects and impacts owing to long-lived emissions of greenhouse gases trigger physical and socio-economic consequences that affect the livelihoods of urban dwellers. Such challenges call for enduring scientific advancements, improved training and increased awareness of topical issues.

The Bucharest Urban Climate Summer School 2018 (BUCSS 2018) aims to provide structured information and skill-building capabilities related to urban climate monitoring, modelling and biometeorology, with a primary focus of creating an active pool of young scientists that tackle the major urban sustainability challenges facing future generations.

The critical areas to be covered refer to
(1) Modelling tools used in urban meteorology and climatology
(2) Exploring critical linkages among environmental factors and emerging and chronic health threats and health disparities

Those attending can expect to gain an understanding of the state-of-the-art via lectures, but this year’s edition of BUCSS is tailored towards hands-on experience on (1) urban climate modelling and (2) biometeorology.

The summer school is primarily intended for doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers who already have basic knowledge and interest for urban climate issues.Basic skills in climate studies, climate modelling, programming and statistics is required.

You may apply to attend BUCSS 2018 by e-mailing to the address svmp@icub.unibuc.ro the following: a) 2-page CV; b) 1-page letter of motivation; c) names, affiliation, e-mails and phone numbers of two professors or senior researchers who could provide references.

VENUE

Invited speakers (Instructors)

Ashley Broadbent, Arizona State University (USA)

Ashley Broadbent is Assistant Research Professor, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University (ASU).Broadbent’s research focuses on understanding the environmental impacts of urbanization and land cover change. His research utilizes measurements and modeling of land-atmosphere exchanges and thermal environments across a range of scales. Broadbent’s doctoral research (Monash University, Australia) was completed in 2016 as part of a Cooperative Research Centre for Water Sensitive Cities, which works closely with government and private sector collaborators to achieve urban sustainability outcomes. He is currently based in the Urban Climate Research Centre at ASU and is funded by the National Science Foundation. He is particularly interested in heat mitigation and uses tools such as the Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model to evaluate novel urban cooling strategies.

Sorin Cheval, University of Bucharest / National Meteorological Administration / “Henri Coandă” Air Force Academy (Romania)

Sorin Cheval is a senior climatologist, Associate Research Scientist at the Research Institute of the University of Bucharest. He holds a Ph.D. in Geography and he is a Fulbright Alumnus at the University of South Carolina (USA). His habilitation thesis (2015) focused on urban climate and climate change. Dr. Sorin Cheval is a senior researcher at National Meteorological Administration, and he teaches courses at the University of Bucharest and "Henri Coandă" Air Force Academy from Brașov (Romania). Since 2014, Sorin Cheval convenes the Urban Climate and Biometeorology section of the European Geophysical Union, and his main expertise related to urban climate refers to monitoring techniques, assessment of urban heat island, and climate change impacts. Some results of his research on the urban heat island may be found here .

Matthias Demuzere, University of Ghent (Belgium)

Matthias Demuzere is an (urban) climatologist and remote sensor with a specific interest in global, regional and high-resolution climate modelling, urban canopy layer modelling, green and blue urban infrastructure, multi-source remote sensing and crowd-sourcing climate data initiatives. He is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Hydrology and Water Management (Ghent University, Belgium), working on the SAT-EX project. Before, he obtained his PhD in Science at KU Leuven, where he also completed a six year post-doctoral position. During these positions he has been working abroad on various occasions, among others including research stays at the National University of Singapore, Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) and the MPI for biogeochemistry in Jena (Germany). Over these years he has been working on various topics on the land-atmosphere interface: synoptic circulation patterns and their role in the climate and air quality (e.g. COST733), the role of water sensitive urban design (CRC for Water Sensitive Cities), urban climate adaptation and mitigation strategies (COST TU0902), high resolution convection permitting models (CLIMAQS & MACCBET), the world urban database and access portal tools project (WUDAPT) and the the Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in a Chinese megacity programme (APHH Chine). A full overview of his curriculum can be found here .

Matei Georgescu, Arizona State University (USA)

Matei Georgescu is Associate Professor, Associate Director of the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, and part of the core leadership team of the Urban Climate Research Center at Arizona State University. His scholarly activities focus on the improved diagnosis and understanding of distinct phenomena related to urbanization-induced landscape change, as well as potential adaptation and mitigation strategies. In addition, he examines environmental consequences (e.g., on climate and hydrology) of renewable energy expansion by integrating across physical, agricultural, and socioeconomic elements. The range of tools used to investigate these topics include climate models, remote sensing data and associated applications, and in situ weather/climate observations. He has written more than 40 peer-reviewed articles that have appeared in journals such as the Proceedings of the National Academies of Sciences (USA), Nature Climate Change, and Journal of Climate. His current projects are funded by the US National Science Foundation and US Department of Agriculture.

David Hondula, Arizona State University (USA)

David Hondula is Assistant Professor, School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, Arizona State University. He is also a volunteer faculty affiliate of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health, and part of the leadership group of the ASU Urban Climate Research Center. Hondula’s research examines the societal impacts of weather and climate with an emphasis on extreme weather and health. His recent projects involve statistical analysis of health and environmental data to understand the impact of high temperatures on human health in urban areas. He is also developing new techniques to measure and assess personal heat exposure in cities. Hondula’s research is funded by the US National Science Foundation and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Building Resilience Against Climate Effects initiative.

Andreas Matzarakis, German Meteorological Service, Freiburg (Germany)

Prof. Dr. Andreas Matzarakis is leading since August 2015 the Research Center Human Biometeorology of the German Meteorological Service in Freiburg. Appointed as extraodrinary Professor at the University of Freiburg since October 2006. He was born at Pentalofos/Evros, Greece in 1960. He received a degree in Meteorology in 1989 from the Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich in 1989 and a Ph.D. degree in Meteorology and Climatology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. From 1995 to 2001 he was a scientific assistant at meteorological Institute of the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg and earned his habilitation about the "thermal component of the urban climate” in 2001. He is appointed to Professor at the University of Freiburg in October 2006. His research is mainly focused on urban climatology, human-biometeorology, tourism climatology, regional climatology, forest meteorology and climate impact research. He is founder and editor of the urban climate website. Since 1996 he chairs the commission on climate, tourism and recreation of the International Society of Biometeorology. He was vice-president of the International Society of Biometeorology (2008-2011). He is the developer of several models and tools in applied climatology and biometeorology i.e. RayMan Model, SkyHelios Model, Climate Mapping Tool and CTIS (Climate-Tourism/Transfer-Information-Scheme).

Oded Potchter, Tel Aviv University (Israel)

Prof. Oded Potchter is Vice Dean and Chair of The Academic Council of the Faculty of Society and Culture at the Beit Berl College and a lecturer at Tel Aviv University. His area of expertise is Applied Climatology focusing on bio-climatology, urban climatology, climate related planning, green buildings and the urban heat island phenomenon with in desert cities. His PhD thesis was on the Climatic Aspects of the Building of Ancient Urban Settlements in the Land of Israel. In recent years, his research has focused on the environmental impact (climate, air pollution and noise) of urban habitants as well as the impact of green spaces on urban climate. In terms of teaching, he specializes in field studies, climatic measurements and environmental monitoring. Prof. Potchter is a climatic consultant and was involved in the planning process of the desert city of Beer Sheva and the new city of Ramat Beit Shemesh as well as other smaller scale projects.

Ionuț Șandric, Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest and GIS specialist at Esri (Romania)

Ionut Sandric, is a lecturer at Faculty of Geography, University of Bucharest and GIS specialist at Esri Romania. He has over 15 years’ experience in space-time modelling, uncertainty propagation and satellite imagery processing. He has been involved in several national research projects in the field of landslides hazard modelling using Bayesian computation, biodiversity and species distribution modelling, soil moisture evaluation using satellite imagery products, urban heat island and ecosystem services. He is also one of the editors of European Journal of Remote Sensing.

Mikhail Varentsov, Lomonosov Moscow State University / A.M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics (Russia)

Mikhail Varentsov is a researcher in Lomonosov Moscow State University (Research Computing Center & Faculty of Geography) and in A.M. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics. His researches are focused on urban climate studies for Moscow and other Russian cities, including the Arctic ones, with application of experimental meteorological observations and numerical modelling. Mikhail is a member of CLM-Community (Climate Limited-area Modelling community) and has a wide experience of the application of regional mesoscale model of the atmosphere COSMO (Consortium for Small-scale modelling) for regional climate modelling and urban climate studies. Participant of a number of national and international research projects in field of urban climate studies, biometeorology, experimental measurements and model development, including the AEVUS (Analysys and Evaluation of TERRA_URB scheme) priority task of COSMO consortium.

Important dates

  • Application deadline: 31 May 2018
  • Approval of application: 5 June 2018
  • Urban Climate Summer School: 27 - 31 August 2018

Programme

Monday, August 27

9:00 - Welcome and opening

9:15 - General introduction to urban climate (Matei Georgescu)

10:30 - Urban climate and climate change challenges in SE Europe (Sorin Cheval)

11:00 - Student introduction

12:30 - Lunch Break

13:30 - Introduction to urban climate modeling (Matei Georgescu)

15:00 - Simulations of the urban-induced climate features of Moscow megacity within the framework of COSMO-CLM model (Mikhail Varentsov)

16:00 - Crowdsourced data in urban climate applications (Matthias Demuzere)

Tuesday, August 28

9:00 - Remote sensing in urban areas (Ionuț Șandric)

10:00 - Mapping spatial patterns of LST distribution in urban areas using satellite times series (Ionuț Șandric)

11:30 - Manipulating earth observation data with Google Earth Engine (Matthias Demuzere)

12:30 - Lunch Break

13:30 - Hands-on urban-climate modeling (Hendrik Wouters)

Wednesday, August 29

9:00 - Hands-on urban climate modelling (Ashley Broadbent)

12:30 - Lunch Break

13:30 - Hands-on urban climate modelling

15:30 - Field trip and social event: Bucharest

Thursday, August 30

9:30 - Basics of thermal comfort and factors influencing urban bioclimate (Andreas Matzarakis)

11:00 - Experimental studies in urban bioclimate and thermal perception questionnaires (Oded Pochter)

12:30 - Lunch Break

13:30 - Introduction to urban bioclimate models (RayMan, SkyHelios) (Andreas Matzarakis)

15:00 - How to explore urban bio-climate with individual measurements and experiences (Andreas Matzarakis)

Friday, August 31

9:00 - Health and social impacts of urban heat (David Hondula)

11:00 - Application of models and exercises (Andreas Matzarakis)

12:30 - Lunch break

13:30 - Urban Climate Game (Andreas Matzarakis)

15:00 - Modeling the health effects of climate change (David Hondula)

Participants

The list of participants is available here

Committees

Scientific committee

  • Sorin Cheval (ICUB)
  • Ioan Ianoș (CICADIT)
  • Matei Georgescu, David Hondula (ASU)
  • Andreas Matzarakis (DWD)
  • Matthias Demuzere (UGhent)

Organising committee

  • Sorin Cheval (ICUB)
  • Oana Peiu (ICUB)
  • Matei Georgescu (ASU)
  • Mirela Paraschiv (CICADIT)
  • George Secăreanu (CICADIT)
  • Matthias Demuzere (UGhent)

Registration

Send to the address svmp@icub.unibuc.ro: a) 2-page CV; b) 1-page letter of motivation; c) the name, affiliation, e-mail address and phone numbers of two professors/scholars who could provide references about the candidate

  • Deadline: 31 May 2018
  • Fee: Euro 150 upon acceptance of participation. The fee covers all the coffee breaks and lunches, the official dinner and excursions. Details about the payment procedure will be sent to the participants.
  • Registration will soon be open for accepted participants. Deadline for fee payment 31 July 2018.

Travel and Accomodation

The summer school will take place in Bucharest, within the premises of University of Bucharest.

The organizers do not cover the travel and accomodation cost for participants.

More information on accommodation will be provided to the participants upon selection for the event.

Transportation. There are non-stop flights to Bucharest from most major European cities and in the Middle-East and connecting flights from the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Most international flights arrive at Henri Coanda (Otopeni) Airport. Airport facilities include ATM, currency exchange office, Taxi Desk and car rental. The airport is connected with the city center by official taxis and express buses. Bucharest's main train station - Gara de Nord - is a major rail centre with daily connections from/to cities throughout Europe and main cities in Romania. There are daily trains from/to Athens, Belgrade, Budapest, Istanbul, Kiev, Moscow, Prague, Sofia, and Vienna. Trains from/to Western European cities run via Budapest. Bucharest's public transportation network includes: bus ("autobuz"), tram ("tramvai"), trolley bus ("troilebuz|), subway ("metrou") and taxi. Read more

Accommodation. Bucharest has a full range of accommodation facilities, at different rates and standards. We will provide our recommendation to the selected participants, at about 20-40 Euro/night.

Visas. Citizens of virtually all European countries, as well as Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand and the USA, do not require visas to visit Romania for short-stays (up to 90 days). For citizens from other countries, visas are issued at Romanian consulates. The bearers of a visa with 2 or multiple entries, a long-term visa or a residence permit issued by Schengen Member States shall no longer be required to hold a short-stay visa. If you need an official invitation to get the visa, please contact the organisers well in advance. Read more

Contact

email: svmp@icub.unibuc.ro