Utilization of fire brigade data in the impact analysis of extreme precipitation events over Berlin

Large cities and urban regions are highly sensitive to impacts caused by extreme events, e.g. heavy rainfall, since they cause fatalities and economic damages. Moreover, due to regional consequences of global climate change, problems caused by hazardous atmospheric events are expected to intensify in future. Thus adequate adaptation planning of urban infrastructure not only requires further research on potential impacts under changing precipitation patterns, but also practical feasibility for end users like insurances or fire brigades.

According to this we relate heavy precipitation events over Berlin to the available data on time and location of the respective fire brigade operations, within the research program “Urban Climate Under Change” ([UC]²) funded by the BMBF. For this purpose multiple data sets like station, radar and model  based data with a high temporal resolution will be used.  Thus an improved assessment of the spatial and temporal evolution of severe precipitation events can be made,  which is consequently also of aid in the investigation of a connection to related impacts in the urban area.