Month: December 2024

Our new paper, “CHUWD-H v1.0: a comprehensive historical hourly weather database for U.S. urban energy system modeling“, is published in Scientific Data (IF: 5.8).

The paper can be downloaded at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-024-04238-4.

Authors: Chenghao Wang, Chengbin Deng, Henry Horsey, Janet L. Reyna, Di Liu, Sarah Feron, Raúl R. Cordero, Jiyun Song, & Robert B. Jackson

Abstract: Reliable and continuous meteorological data are crucial for modeling the responses of energy systems and their components to weather and climate conditions, particularly in densely populated urban areas. However, existing long-term datasets often suffer from spatial and temporal gaps and inconsistencies, posing great challenges for detailed urban energy system modeling and cross-city comparison under realistic weather conditions. Here we introduce the Historical Comprehensive Hourly Urban Weather Database (CHUWD-H) v1.0, a 23-year (1998–2020) gap-free and quality-controlled hourly weather dataset covering 550 weather station locations across all urban areas in the contiguous United States. CHUWD-H v1.0 synthesizes hourly weather observations from stations with outputs from a physics-based solar radiation model and a reanalysis dataset through a multi-step gap filling approach. A 10-fold Monte Carlo cross-validation suggests that the accuracy of this gap filling approach surpasses that of conventional gap filling methods. Designed primarily for urban energy system modeling, CHUWD-H v1.0 should also support historical urban meteorological and climate studies, including the validation and evaluation of urban climate modeling.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-04238-4

Database DOI: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/5DP8E

Interactive Data Platform: https://arcg.is/COWWe

Our new paper, “Cooling efficacy of trees across cities is determined by background climate, urban morphology, and tree trait“, is published in Communications Earth & Environment (IF: 8.1).

The paper can be downloaded at https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01908-4.

Authors: Haiwei Li, Yongling Zhao, Chenghao Wang, Diana Ürge-Vorsatz, Jan Carmeliet, & Ronita Bardhan

Abstract: Urban planners and other stakeholders often view trees as the ultimate panacea for mitigating urban heat stress; however, their cooling efficacy varies globally and is influenced by three primary factors: tree traits, urban morphology, and climate conditions. This study analyzes 182 studies on the cooling effects of urban trees across 17 climates in 110 global cities or regions. Tree implementation reduces peak monthly temperatures to below 26 °C in 83% of the cities. Trees can lower pedestrian-level temperatures by up to 12 °C through large radiation blockage and transpiration. In tropical, temperate, and continental climates, a mixed-use of deciduous and evergreen trees in open urban morphology provides approximately 0.5 °C more cooling than a single species approach. In arid climates, evergreen species predominate and demonstrate more effective cooling within compact urban morphology. Our study offers context-specific greening guidelines for urban planners to harness tree cooling in the face of global warming.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01908-4