The Baltimore community-based weather station network: Filling the urban measurement desert

Monitoring neighborhood-scale variability of weather within cities is critical for understanding the causes of and developing equitable solutions for urban heat, flooding, and air pollution. This is particularly true as conditions are generally not evenly distributed across cities, with the highest temperatures and air pollution and most frequent flooding often in low-income neighborhoods. There is, however, a lack of surface weather measurements within cities that prevents needed analysis of causes of spatial variability and of the efficacy of active or proposed interventions. Here we will discuss the development of a community-based network of weather stations to fill this measurement desert in Baltimore City. The Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative (BSEC), a partnership between universities, state agencies, and the Baltimore community, has created a community-centered urban climate observatory that uses low-cost personal weather stations. These weather stations have been installed in a range of location with neighborhoods, including faith-based centers, recreation and community centers, schools, outdoor learning centers, and urban gardens and parks. Examples will be presented that show the use the observatory to quantify the intra-urban variation of heat and the evaluation of mesoscale climate model simulations. In addition, the use of the weather stations for community engagement, education, and empowerment will be discussed.