Urban-Climate Observatory (UCO)

The Urban Climate Observatory (UCO) Berlin is an open and long-term infrastructure for integrative research on urban weather, climate, and air quality. Quality-controlled observations are carried in order to study the interaction between atmospheric processes and urban structures, as well as climate variability and climate change in urban environments. It enables multi-scale, three-dimensional atmospheric studies integrating observational and numerical modelling methods. UCO Berlin includes the following components:

The Urban Climate Observation Network (UCON) Berlin for long-term observations of atmospheric variables (air temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, global radiation, wind, precipitation) in the Urban Canopy Layer (UCL) at various locations. Crowdsourcing of urban weather data, i.e. since 2015 all freely available data from Netatmo weather stations in Berlin and surrounding have been systematically collected. This citizen weather station network provides data on air temperature, relative humidity, wind, precipitation and air pressure.

: Urban Climate Observation Network (UCON); © TU Berlin

: Automatic weather station; © TU Berlin

: Citizen weather station network; © TU Berlin

Meteorological towers for observations of turbulent fluxes of heat, moisture and carbon dioxide with eddy-covariance systems as well as radiation balance components (long-wave radiation, short-wave) at different heights. Sites: Rothenburgstraße und TUB Campus Charlottenburg.

: UCO tower Rothenburgstraße (40m); © TU Berlin

: Open-path eddy-covariance system; © TU Berlin

: Sunshine Pyranometer; © TU Berlin

Ground-based remote sensing of the Urban Boundary Layer for profiling of air temperature, humidity and aerosols as well as wind vectors using micro-wave radiometer (RPG HATRO-G5), ceilometer (Lufft CHM 15k) and Doppler wind-LiDAR (Halo Photonics, Stream Line XR). Sites: Rothenburgstraße, TUB Campus Charlottenburg und Grunewald. Another component of the UCO Berlin is the X-band Doppler weather radar with dual polarization (GAMIC, GMWR-25-DP), which is currently under construction.

: Doppler Wind-LiDAR; © TU Berlin

: Mikrowave-radiometer; © TU Berlin

: Ceilometer; © TU Berlin

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Postal address:

Fachgebiet Klimatologie
Institut für Ökologie
TU Berlin
Rothenburgstraße 12
D-12165 Berlin

Location

Contact Person:

Prof. Dr. Dieter Scherer

Dr. Fred Meier

Publikationen

Nicolini, G. et al. (2022):
Direct observations of CO2 emission reductions due to COVID-19 lockdown across European urban districts. Science of The Total Environment 830. DOI:
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154662
Link

Gillefalk, M. et al. (2022):
Estimates of water partitioning in complex urban landscapes with isotope-aided ecohydrological modelling. Hydrological Processes 36 (3): e14532. DOI:10.1002/hyp.14532
Link

Fenner, D. et al. (2014):
Spatial and temporal air temperature variability in Berlin, Germany, during the years 2001-2010. Urban Clim. 10 (2): 308-331. DOI: 10.1016/j.uclim.2014.02.004
Link

Meier, F. et al. (2017):
Crowdsourcing air temperature from citizen weather stations for urban climate research. Urban Clim. 19: 170-191. DOI: 10.1016/j.uclim.2017.01.006
Link

Rost, A.T. et al. (2020):
How Cool Are Allotment Gardens? A Case Study of Nocturnal Air Temperature Differences in Berlin, Germany. Atmosphere 11 (5): 500. DOI: 10.3390/atmos11050500
Link

Fenner, D. et al. (2019):
Contrasting changes of urban heat island intensity during hot weather episodes. Environ. Res. Lett. 14 (12), 124013. DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ab506b
Link

Wiegner, M. et al. (2020):
On the spatial variability of the regional aerosol distribution as determined from ceilometers. Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss.. DOI: 10.5194/acp-2020-332
Link