Developing a dataset for simulating urban climate impacts on a global scale

Abstract

Urbanization is a dramatic example of how people alter the surface of the Earth and have a significant impact on local climates. Understanding how urban characteristics interact with the environment on varying scales will help mitigate harmful changes to local and global climates. Localized urban influences on climate are well-documented, and logically it can be asked whether expanding urban areas influence global climate. In order to understand the potential effects of urbanization on global climates, urbanization must be included in global climate models. Furthermore, such a model will need global databases of urban extent and urban characteristics. This thesis describes the methods and characteristics of a dataset that can be used to simulate urban systems within global climate models. Specifically, the dataset represents three main categories of urban properties: spatial extent, urban morphology, and thermal and radiative properties of building materials.