Seminar :  SURF Project - Understanding Urban Convection and Haze

Posted on: January 25, 2017

Date: February 8th, 2017

Presenter: Shiguang Miao is Senior Scientist and Director of the Institute of Urban Meteorology, China Meteorological Administration, in Beijing, which is dedicated to urban research and operational weather forecast for Beijing. 

Abstract

Half the global population will be in cities by 2025. Cities modify atmospheric energy and moisture balances, forming local climates such as urban heat islands (UHIs) and enhanced precipitation. These changes produce significant challenges to science and society. The Beijing megacity experiences such severe events, e.g., 2012 flooding killed 79 and caused losses of $2B.

Despite significant research into urban effects on weather and air quality, important science issues remain, e.g., urban-thermodynamic and aerosol impacts on summer convective precipitation and interactions between urban and regional climate changes. Observations are fundamental for understanding these interactions, improving forecasts, and providing useful information to end-users. Previous large urban field campaigns have not been coordinated by a group such as the Beijing Institute of Urban Meteorology (IUM), with its responsibilities for both boundary layer research and real time urban weather forecasting. The overall science objective of the 2014-8 SURF Project is thus a better understanding of urban, terrain, convection, and aerosol interactions for improved forecast accuracy 

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