UP2015 - Urban Physics Winter School 2015
25-30 January 2015, Ascona, Switzerland
DownloadFlyer UPWS2015 (PDF, 1.8 MB)
Scope
Urban Physics is a well-established discipline, aiming to provide a theoretical underpinning for the effects of continuing urbanization and global warming on the urban microclimate and the citizens, and therefore strongly relates to pressing environmental problems worldwide.
The doctoral schools on Urban Physics are a joint initiative of ETH and two other renowned institutes in the field, namely TU/e (The Netherlands) and UC (Cyprus), and are organized with the aim of disseminating the latest advances in Urban Physics.
The school aims at providing the participants in-depth knowledge on the latest advances in the field of climate science, building aerodynamics, meteorology, urban microclimate and human physiology, as well as the impact of these developments on e.g. the mitigation of urban heat islands, the improvement of human comfort, safety and health. The idea is to bring the participants in contact with leading researchers in the field, to encourage a constructive and open dialogue and to incite collaborations between theorists and experimentalists at an international level.
Course information
Coordinated by
- Jan CARMELIET (ETH/Empa, Switzerland)
- Bert BLOCKEN (TU/e, The Netherlands)
- Marina NEOPHYTOU (UCY, Cyprus)
Invited speakers
- Jonas ALLEGRINI(Empa, CH)
- Janet BARLOW (University of Reading, UK)
- Dominik BRUNNER (Empa, Switzerland)
- Paolo BURLANDO (ETH, Switzerland)
- Thijs DEFRAEYE (KULeuven, Belgium)
- Dominique DEROME (Empa, Switzerland)
- Rod LINN (LANL, New Mexico)
- Peter MOONEN (UPPA, France)
- Darren ROBINSON (University of Nottingham, UK)
- Rene ROSSI (Empa, Switzerland)
- Christoph SCHAER (ETH, Switzerland)
Programme
The School starts with an icebreaker reception (Sunday). Then follow two lectures describing the general context in which urban physics is set. The remainder of the lectures has been thematically organized into four themes, namely air (A), water (W), fire (F) and earth (E). Halfway a social excursion is planned. The tentative program can be found in the table below. All lectures will be thaught in English. Lecture notes will be digitally provided. A more detailed description of the different topics is given below.
Preliminary time schedule
Lectures
- THEME AIR (A)
Urban meteorology: boundary layer structure, meteorological phenomena.
CFD for urban applications: introduction to the basic principles of computational fluid dynamics, best practice guidelines.
Multiscale modeling strategies: nesting, one-way and two-way coupling, 4d data assimilation, time-slicing, database approaches.
Human physiology: physiological response, heat and cold stress, functional clothing.
Urban microclimate and thermal comfort: heat island effect, comfort criteria &assessment.
Wind tunnel for urban applications: introduction to the basic principles of wind tunnel testing, scaling, similarity theory, best practice guidelines.
Urban microclimate and wind comfort: blocking and channeling effects, comfort criteria & assessment.
Air pollution & atmospheric chemistry: air pollution at global and regional scale, atmospheric chemistry.
- THEME WATER (W)
Hydrology & forecasting: rainfall field analysis, hydrologic extreme forecasting and prediction.
Urban microclimate and wind-driven rain: modeling approaches, impact on durability of materials.
- THEME EARTH (E)
Urban ecosystems: plant biology and physics, evapotranspiration, soil system, interaction atmosphere and land use, ecosystems in an urban environment.
Urban microclimate & ecosystems: impact avenue-trees, facade greening, roof greening on urban microclimate.
- THEME FIRE (F)
Urban fire modeling: modeling of urban fire, emergency response.
- CROSS-THEMATIC LINKS
Climate change: mechanisms driving the climate and leading to climate change, impact of climate change.
City energy simulation: modeling of solar radiation, sky, ground, and buildings, link to building energy simulation.
Urban microclimate and energy: impact of urban morphology, materials, vegetation, etc. on the urban comfort and energy balance of an urban environment.