Project Summary
Since 2018, the Climatology Group maintains an extensive air temperature monitoring network within and around the city of Bern. Distributed over different urban structures and surfaces, vegetation types, as well as topographical and infrastuctural settings, the low-cost temperature loggers are being placed within a self-made radiation shield. The network consisting of 65 to 85 stations measures air temperatures every 10 minutes from May until September and, since 2021, has also been supported by the city administration (Stadtgrün and Tiefbauamt) and the energy service provider ewb.
The goals of this project are to (1) assess the urban temperature variability at very fine spatial and temporal scales in order to provide a basis for (2) the validation of geostatistical and numerical urban climate models, (3) the evaluation and inter-comparison of different low-cost measurement approaches for urban heat islands, (4) comparisons with “historical” urban climate data retrieved in the 1970s, and (5) analyses of the effects of urban heat stress on human health. Moreover, the data is being used for (6) the development and evaluation of educational material focusing on local impacts of climate change.
