Urban Meteorology: Some Selected Topics

Abstract

Many of the atmospheric anomalies that occur around built-up areas were described qualitatively in the last century. Stimulated no doubt by the 1968 WMO Brussels Symposium on Urban Climates and by the present widespread interest in the environment of ?human settlements,? there has been a recent quantum jump in the number of published papers on urban meteorology, including many attempts to model and quantify the anomalies. This short paper, which is not intended to be a survey, contains some thoughts an a few selected topics. The importance of monitoring beyond the suburban limits is stressed, in view of the interactions between the urban and regional fields of motion. Despite the fact that cities are usually located in irregular terrain, the value of searching for universal results is stressed both on the micro- and mesoscales within and near cities. As part of the design of new studies, inventories of existing data should be made. In many cases, the data banks deserve reexamination from time to time as new models and points of view emerge. Finally. some comments on observing requirements are made, including the need for at least one first-order meteorological and air quality reference station in each large metropolitan area.