@ The University of Oklahoma

Month: December 2024

New paper on an urban weather database published in Scientific Data

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

Fig. 1. Spatial distribution of the 550 representative weather stations in CHUWD-H v1.0, color coded by classification according to the official TMY3 dataset. Class I stations have the lowest uncertainty, Class II stations have moderate uncertainty, and Class III stations have the most data gaps. Shaded areas in orange are urban areas with populations of at least 50,000.

New paper on the cooling effect of urban trees published in Communications Earth & Environment

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

Fig. 1. a Urban trees moderate urban warming caused by urban heat island (UHI) effects. b Interconnecting factors determine the cooling benefits of urban trees. Maximized cooling from urban trees is achieved by selecting the optimal trees and their placement, with an articulated understanding of the interconnecting elements: background climates, tree traits, and urban morphology. The cooling effect of urban trees is determined by a combination of mechanisms, such as shading (shortwave radiation blocking) and transpiration. On the leaf and its stomata scale, the leaf energy balance can be represented by qsen (sensible heat flux) +qlat (latent heat flux)=qrad,l (net longwave radiation) + qrad,s (net shortwave radiation).

Liam Thompson won the First Generation UReCA Fellowship

Liam Thompson recently won the First Generation Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (UReCA) Fellowship. This fellowship offers financial support to OU students who would like to undertake a project over the course of a semester. Liam will work on a project titled “Investigating the Influence of Convective Severe Weather on Ozone Pollution in Oklahoma City”.

Congratulations, Liam!

Upcoming presentations at AGU24 Annual Meeting

We have multiple presentations at AGU24 Annual Meeting (https://www.agu.org/annual-meeting) in Washington, D.C., December 9-13, 2024:

B11I-1442 The Global Hydrogen Budget

Presenter: Zutao Ouyang. 08:30-12:20, Monday, Dec 9, 2024. Hall B-C (Poster Hall). https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1598982

A21K-1910 Examination of Meteorological Factors and Emissions Sources Leading to the Large Methane (CH4) Enhancements at the ARM Site in Oklahoma. [student-led presentation]

Presenter: Qingyu Wang. 08:30-12:20, Tuesday, Dec 10, 2024. Hall B-C (Poster Hall). https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1544297

A23E-2022 Investigating Compound Heat Wave and Fine Particulate Matter Pollution Events in Urban Areas. [student-led presentation]

Presenter: Jessica Leffel. 13:40-17:30, Tuesday, Dec 10, 2024. Hall B-C (Poster Hall). https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1545993

A23B-1969 Observation and Simulation of Methane (CH4) Plumes during the Morning Boundary Layer Transition.

Presenter: Xiao-Ming Hu. 13:40-17:30, Tuesday, Dec 10, 2024. Hall B-C (Poster Hall). https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1543991

A33L-06 Complex Interplay between Temperature and Air Pollution in U.S. Cities.

Presenter: Xueli Yang. 15:25-15:40, Wednesday, Dec 11, 2024. 152A. https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1610050

GC44A-03 Enhancing the Representation of Hydrological Processes in an Urban Canopy Model: A Multi-parameterization Approach. [student-led presentation]

Presenter: Yuqi Huang. 16:25-16:35, Thursday, Dec 12, 2024. Salon A. https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1591503

GC51F-02 Worldwide Scaling of Waste Generation in Urban Systems.

Presenter: Mingzhen Lu. 08:40-08:50, Friday, Dec 13, 2024. Salon A. https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1731134

GC51F-03 Characterizing Compound Heat and Ozone Pollution Episodes in U.S. Cities.

Presenter: Chenghao Wang. 08:50-09:00, Friday, Dec 13, 2024. Salon A. https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1602258

GC53N-01 Hydrometeorological Evaluation of a Continental-Scale Convection-Permitting Simulation Across Urban Environments. [student-led presentation]

Presenter: Liam Thompson. 14:10-14:20, Friday, Dec 13, 2024. Salon A. https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1602473

Dr. Wang is also co-chairing the following sessions:

GC41I – Advancing Representation of Urban Processes and Dynamics in Models Across Scales I Poster. 08:30-12:20, Thursday, Dec 12, 2024. Hall B-C. https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Session/225944

GC44A – Advancing Representation of Urban Processes and Dynamics in Models Across Scales II Oral. 16:00-17:30, Thursday, Dec 12, 2024. Salon A. https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Session/233418

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