Adaptation of the urban climate model PALM-4U for Wuerzburg, Germany

The European Union-funded research project 'BigData@Geo ­­­­­­­­- Advanced Environmental Technologies using AI on the Web' is dedicated to researching connections and interactions in the natural regional environmental system. This includes the development of a high-resolution regional earth system model for modelling climate change in Northern Bavaria, Germany.

This research aims to run an urban climate model based on the Parallelized Large-Eddy Simulation Model for Urban Applications (PALM-4U) for Lower Franconia and thus to simulate the Main Valley with a focus on Wuerzburg in a high resolution of up to one meter. As part of this, PALM-4U is coupled to the regional climate model REMO to use generated dynamic input data in addition to static data, for example relating to buildings, roads, waterways, bridges, roof greening etc. in the simulation. The effects of variable development and the influence of green spaces and vegetation – especially also of street trees – on the urban climate are thereby considered, taking into account climate change in the 21st century. Furthermore, changes in the boundary conditions, topography and land use are also part of the research and compared using historical, current and future scenarios.

First results of the coupled model, its urban climate components and of applied approaches such as nesting will be shown. Besides possibilities for their evaluation, possible further steps are also presented.