inkas – a guidance tool to assess the impact of adaptation measures against urban heat

Abstract

Cities are particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events such as heat waves, which are expected to increase in frequency, duration and intensity by the end of this century. Hence, climate adaptation in cities is necessary to improve their resilience against climate change impacts and to secure their sustainability, quality of life and economic strength. Urban planners, practitioners and decision-makers require knowledge about the effectiveness of city-scale climate adaptation measures to prioritise their options for action and to push forward the political process for the implementation of climate adaptation strategies in cities. The Deutscher Wetterdienst's new Information Portal for Climate Adaptation in Cities, INKAS, enables its users to assess and compare the quantitative effect of different adaptation measures for varying degrees of implementation. The impact of different climate adaptation measures designed to reduce summertime air temperatures in cities is systematically investigated by means of the urban climate modelling of idealised cities. INKAS is based on about 2000 urban climate simulations of various combinations of nine urban settlement types typical for Germany and of four urban surrounding countrysides. The simplified assumptions of idealised cities with typical urban settlement types simulated with the 3‑dimensional urban climate model MUKLIMO_3 increases the transferability of complex urban interrelations to local decision-makers and urban planners. Simulated adaptation measures include the use of materials with high reflectivity, the installation of green roofs and the transformation of impervious surfaces between buildings into pervious surfaces.