News

Successful completion of the project

April 30, 2024

The TURBAN project was successfully completed by the end of April 2024. All the sub-goals of the project were achieved, their summary is available in the Results tab.




Scenarios simulations for Bergen

April 30, 2024

Danmarksplass, which is a major road cross in the central Bergen valley, was selected as the focal point of the project simulations because this already densely populated area is considered for further densification and higher buildings’ construction in city development plans. E.g., Mindemyren and other projects have been proposed (under construction) around the place. In our simulation scenarios, we ask the question about air pollution in this part of the city.

The obtained dataset of simulations includes two weather episodes:


Thus, the dataset presents multiple daily (24 h) runs driven by the results of model downscaling of ERA5 reanalysis with WRF model (produced by K. Eben and M. Bures). The simulation results are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11045535.



Fig. 1. Simulation results for the winter episode. The concentrations, temperature, and wind speed are averaged over the nested domain (1280 m by 1280 m) centered on Danmarksplass.


Fig. 2. Simulation results for the summer episode. The concentrations, temperature, and wind speed are averaged over the nested domain (1280 m by 1280 m) centered on Danmarksplass.

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Sensitivity assessment of scenario simulations (Bergen)

April 25, 2024

Sensitivity assessment of the model scenario simulations is essential for model verification and uncertainty assessment. An open question in any simulation is to what degree the obtained results are sensitive to specific selection of the model configuration and setup (initial and boundary) conditions. We explored sensitivity and uncertainty in the PALM scenario simulations for Bergen.

There are two relevant questions: (i) whether the model resolution has a significant impact on the atmospheric conditions in the local are in focus; and (ii) whether the model domain (size and extent) has an impact. We ran two simulations comparing larger and smaller domains with two nested areas centered at Danmarksplass in each simulation. Thus, both the domain size and the resolution issues were studied. The results (see the infographics) reveal that the resolution within the range accessible in the project does not have any noticeable impact. The buildings around Danmarksplass are large and resolved on both 24 m and 10 m grids. The domain size has an impact on the simulation results. The sea inlet Puddefjord serves as a channel for ventilation of the central Bergen valley. The local circulation around the inlet is present (resolved) in the large domain and absent in the small domain runs. Simulations with a small domain show weaker ventilation capacity around the Danmarksplass on calm summer days. The results are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11065181.



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Processed set of observations for Bergen

January 18, 2024

Weather conditions in coastal mountainous urban environment are diverse, patchy, and shifting. A few weather stations struggle to characterize local winds, precipitations, and temperatures. It may cause disputable policy measures when air pollution mitigation in one place results in increasing pollution in another. Bergen – a mid-size city in such a challenging complex environment – is regularly experiencing local air quality and weather extremes.

To reconstruct spatial and temporal details of Bergen weather conditions, different observational datasets are needed. The TURBAN team from NERSC have collected observations from a broad variety of sources. Figure summarizes the data collection for Bergen. It shows locations of time series (meteorological and air quality) in the project domain (the central part of Bergen municipality). The dataset for Bergen is representative for urban air quality scenarios representing summertime (2019-07-20 to 2019-07-27) and wintertime (2021-02-04 to 2021-02-15) influential episodes. The dataset includes a selection of meteorological, air quality, and geospatial (urban features) data. The full dataset and its description are published with open access and available for download. Detailed paper describing the dataset is here.



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Workshop "Air quality and thermal comfort in the capital city of Prague"

November 24, 2023

On November 6, 2023, TURBAN project workshop was held in the Small Hall of Profesní dům, Malostranské náměstí on the topic "Air quality and thermal comfort in the capital city of Prague". The workshop was organized in a popular science form for both the employees of the Prague City Hall and the city districts of the capital city of Prague, both for professional and lay public.

At the workshop, there were presented not only the results of the TURBAN project, but also related issues beyond the scope of the project (e.g. mortality caused by increased heat stress). Thanks to the organization of the workshop, new areas of cooperation were identified and the requirements of local governments were clarified. Next workshop will be held in spring of 2024.




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Young Scientist School URSA MAJOR 2023

November 14, 2023

Jelena Radović, a Ph.D. student from the department of Atmospheric Physics at Charles University and a member of the TURBAN project, attended the Young Scientist School (YSS) URSA MAJOR 2023, which focused on Socio-Environmental Interactions in Sustainable Smart Cities.

The school was organized by professor Igor Ezau from the Arctic University of Norway (UiT) and took place in Tromsø (Sommarøy), Norway. The general idea of the school is to introduce a group of young researchers to the topic of urban, societal, environmental, and computational sciences. Through a series of lectures from leading experts, the attendees were able to learn the current cutting-edge challenges in urban system research, urban climate modeling, observations, and communication about socio-environmental interactions.

The students were divided into four groups, each of which focused on one specific topic to share knowledge and communication. Jelena was a part of the so-called Social Line group, which focused on social components of smart cities. The schools started on October 23rd with the kick-off meeting where the students and supervisors introduced each other and got the first tasks. The students had one week to prepare for the tasks given by the supervisors after which in-person sessions started in Tromsø (Sommarøy) on November 1st. During the in-person sessions, the students attended many lectures and worked on the specific tasks of their projects. The individual group’s projects were successfully defended on November 20th in the form of group presentations through an online meeting, where all school participants and supervisors were present.

You can read more detailed information in the attached study.





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The results of the measurement campaign in the traffic-loaded streets Legerova, Sokolská, Rumunská and their surroundings

October 26, 2023

From the end of May 2022 to the end of March 2023, the low-cost air quality sensors (measuring NO2, O3, PM10 and PM2.5), a meteorological mast (MM for measuring temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and speed below the level of roofs), a portable aerosol Doppler LIDAR (LDR for measuring vertical profiles of wind direction and speed and aerosol layers) and a microwave radiometer (MWR for measuring vertical temperature stratification of the atmosphere) were placed within streets Legerova, Sokolská, Rumunská and their surroudings.




Workshop "Air quality and thermal comfort in Prague"

October 20, 2023

We would like to invite you to a workshop focused on air quality and thermal comfort in Prague. The workshop will be held on November 6, 2023 in the Small Hall of Profesní dům, Malostranská Square 2/25, 118 00, Prague 1. Detailed program of the workshop see here.




Project meeting in Prague

September 27, 2023

On 13th–15th September 2023, the fifth in-person project meeting took place in Prague. The meeting was held in premises of Institute of Computer Science of The Czech Academy of Science.

The main program of the meeting was preparation of finalization of the individual results and setting of the work plan for the final phase of the project. Moreover, dates for the achievement of the results and possibilities of their presentation were set. Within the framework of individual working groups and at the plenary session, the progress of the work so far, the results and their validation and control were discussed in detail. Tasks for the coming weeks were divided with the aim of completing project in accordance with the proposed plan. Due to approved expansion and extension of the project, the discussion also covered the coordination of work on newly planned results of the project.

As a part of project meeting, a consultation meeting was held with a representative of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic Mr. Michal Tesař, who was presented with the progress of the project and the results achieved, and his questions were answered. Subsequently, the TA ČR representative answered the specific questions of the researchers. The benefits of the project and the benefits of the support of Norwegian funds and TA ČR for the solution of the project were talked over.



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European Meteorological Society Annual Meeting 2023

September 13, 2023

On 3rd-8th September 2023 Bratislava (SK) hosted the EMS annual meeting, at which the preliminary results of TURBAN project were presented within the talk titled Supplementary measurement campaign focused on meteorology and air quality to support the validation of the PALM LES model in Prague.

Petra Bauerová presented the whole project, its goals and gave a closer look at the experience of data control and evaluation in case of additional network consisting of low-cost air quality sensors and remote sensing technology for monitoring of wind speed, wind direction, aerosol layers and atmospheric temperature in a vertical profile (LIDAR, microwave radiometer).



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ICUC11 Conference Showcases Cutting-Edge Urban Climate Research

September 6, 2023

The 11th International Conference on Urban Climate (ICUC-11) recently concluded after five days of presentations highlighting the latest advancements in urban climate research. The conference took place in Sydney from August 28 to September 1 and featured talks on topics like large-eddy simulation modeling, remote sensing, and the effects of vegetation and street trees on urban environments.

The TURBAN team offered insights into using advanced simulation tools to study city climates. Pavel Krč showcased a novel technique for the inclusion of non-orthogonal surfaces in the PALM model. Michal Belda presented research leveraging the PALM model to support urban planning decisions in Prague. Meanwhile, Jan Geletič shared findings on the complex impacts of urban greenery density on conditions for pedestrians. In addition to oral presentations, ICUC-11 included numerous poster sessions allowing researchers to discuss their work more interactively. In one of the sessions, the team presented a targeted observation campaign for validating the PALM model model against sensor network data in Prague.



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Testing different procedures for the correction of raw data measured by low-cost air quality sensors as part of the measurement campaign for the TURBAN project

August 15, 2023

Before the actual placement of low-cost sensors at selected locations within Legerova, Sokolská, Rumunská streets and the surrounding area, these devices were subjected to an initial comparative measurement in outdoor conditions, in order to detect possible malfunctions and measurement deviations.




End of the measuring campaign with low-cost sensors in Prague 2 within the TURBAN project

July 10, 2023

On March 28, 2023, an additional measurement campaign with low-cost air quality sensors in Legerova, Sokolská, Rumunská and surrounding streets was completed.




Project meeting in Bergen

June 20, 2023

On 5-9th June 2023, the fourth in-person project meeting took place in Bergen. The meeting was held at the NANSEN Center in Bergen, the Norwegian project partner.

The meeting focused mainly on the preparation of the project for its final stage. The summarization of the current state of the results preparation and plans for their finalisation were discussed and specified. Also the possibility of extending the project was discussed and we decided to apply for a four month extension. The ways of the future collaboration after the end of this project were also discussed and both Czech and Norwegian partners expressed their intention to continue the successful collaboration started in this project. The next meeting will be held in Prague in September 2023.




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2nd public presentation of TURBAN observation campaign

June 9, 2023

The observation campaign of the project TURBAN and its newly achieved results were presented to stakeholders and public by Petra Bauerová on Consulting meeting of the investigators of selected research projects in area of adaptation of the capital Prague to climate change on May 31, 2023. Presentations and “video” from the meeting are available at Prague ENV Portal (in Czech).




23rd International Congress of Biometeorology

May 30, 2023

Tempe (USA) hosted the 23rd International Congress of Biometeorology, at which two presentations of the project results were given. First, Jan Geletič presented an analysis of the influence of sky view factor on urban thermal comfort (Sky view factor and its effects on thermal comfort in realistic urban environment). Second, Michal Belda presented a study on the difference between simple and complex measures’ influence on urban thermal comfort (Simple and complex measures for improvement of urban thermal comfort: an LES modeling study).



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Scientific visit to UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø

April 12, 2023

Martin Bureš, member of the Czech research team of the TURBAN project, was invited for a scientific visit to Tromsø by professor Igor Ezau, a colleague from the Norway team in the project TURBAN. One week scientific and research stay was held on Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø city, Norway, in the department of Physics and Technology in collaboration with the group of Renewable Energy.

The main subject of the visit was the micro-scale meteorological model PALM, which is heavily used in the TURBAN project. The work concentrated mainly on:

  • installation of PALM on local supercomputer;
  • the domain selection for Norwegian city Bergen and preparation of a static driver for PALM model;
  • preparation of meteorological boundary conditions for the selected domain;
  • preparation of the detailed chemistry boundary conditions for the selected domain;
  • extension of the configuration for nested domains;
  • optimalization of the simulations by utilization of the restart runs.

Utilization of the another meso-scale models as a boundary condition for PALM model was further discussed. Discussions about cross comparison between Prague and Bergen simulation results and observations using Monin-Obuchov similarity theory were started here as well as further possibilities of the cooperation between Prague and Tromsø with Bergen.




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Project meeting in Prague

February 23, 2023

On 14-16th February 2023, the third face-to-face project meeting took place in Prague. The meeting was hosted by the Institute of Computer Science of Czech Academy of Sciences, the project's main partner.

The meeting focused on work in smaller thematically specialized groups this time. The main goal was the recapitulation of the previous progress and the synchronization of the tasks with respect to the fulfillment of the mandatory project results. The project meeting served as a platform for exchange of the experiences gathered during the solving of the project up to now and to the updating and detailed specification of the work schedule for the following period. The meeting was successful and helped to better coordinate the project activities with the goal of fulfillment of all planned project goals. The next project meeting is planned in Bergen in June 2023.




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American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting 2023

February 8, 2023

Denver (USA) hosted the 2023 Annual Meeting of AMS, at which the TURBAN project preliminary results were presented. Jan Geletič presented a talk titled Complexity of Adaptation and Mitigation Measures in Urban Canyon – Microscale Modeling Approach showing the modeling results for selected adaptation and mitigation measures for Prague-Dejvice. Michal Belda presented a talk titled Trade-offs Between Improvement of Thermal Comfort and Air Quality in Urban Environment Indicated by LES Model PALM Simulations in Prague Case Study showing that the PALM model indicates some measures designed to improve thermal comfort may bring deterioration of air quality.



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Summary of the project and the activities in 2022

January 27, 2023

One of the main project goals in 2022 was putting the sensor observation network, microwave radiometer, and Doppler LIDAR into operation and securing their following operation. The other main tasks concentrated on the improvement, testing and validation of used models and supporting tools, and gathering and processing input data. To harmonise our research and experiments with the main users of the results, regular communication with the Municipalities of the involved cities and their districts was performed and a new web-GIS tool for user presentation of the obtained data was developed. One of the mandatory project outputs was completed in 2022 - Specialised public database “Processed set of observations for Bergen”.





TURBAN observation campaign presentation

December 15, 2022

The observation campaign of the project TURBAN and its results were presented to stakeholders and public by Petra Bauerová on Consulting meeting of the investigators of selected research projects in area of adaptation of the capital Prague to climatic change on December 15, 2022. More detailed information about the meeting can be found on the website of the Prague Adaptation Strategy, the presentation is available to download on Prague ENV Portal. Video record is available on Youtube (in Czech).




Project meeting in Bergen

September 30, 2022

On 13-15th September 2022, the second face-to-face project meeting took place in Bergen. The meeting was held at the NANSEN Center in Bergen, the Norwegian project partner.

The first day started with the project and meeting organization questions but most of the day was reserved to the physical visit of the various observation places and of the main modelling area in Danmarks plass. Next days were dedicated for special workshops with various presentations and discussions about project progress, coordination of the works, and progress in the results preparation. In the course of the workshops, three presentations of the NANSEN Center employees took place presenting topics investigated in NANSEN related to the project TURBAN. The meeting was successful and helped to spin and better coordinate the project activities. The next project meeting is planned in Prague for January/February 2023.






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Project result dissemination

August 22, 2022

An experimental Web-GIS storymap site was created on an open ARCGIS platform. The storymap presents geo-tagged information combined with popular-style narratives.




Installation of air quality sensors

July 14, 2022

Installation of air quality sensors as part of the measurement campaign for the TURBAN project in the high traffic-load streets of Sokolská, Legerova and the surroundings.
At the turn of May and June 2022, with the assistance of a high-lift platform and authorized technical workers, additional low-cost sensors were installed to measure the spatial distribution of concentrations of aerosol partiles PM10 and PM2.5, and further the gases nitrogen dioxide NO2 and ozone O3 in high traffic-load areas of Legerova, Sokolská and Rumunská streets in Prague 2.




Project meeting in Prague

June 30, 2022

On 15-16th June 2022, the first face-to-face project meeting of all members, including colleagues from Norway, took place in Prague.

The meeting started at the project main beneficiary of the project, at the Institute of Computer Science of Czech Academy of Sciences. The first day was dedicated to workshop presentations of progress and outlook in the individual work-packages as well as other closely related topics that led to discussion across the project. On the second day, under the guidance of colleagues from Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, an inspection of the measuring sensors and other observation equipments was held in the Legerova, Sokolská and Rumunská streets in Prague 2. In the afternoon, all the members of the meeting met at the premises of one of the project partners, at the CHMI in Praha – Komořany. There, researchers divided into work groups and discussed in more depth the current work tasks and other questions and initiatives from the previous day. The face-to-face project meeting was very positively valued by all members, especially the intensive knowledge sharing and development of ideas across the project, which is not possible with online communication. Furthermore, the personal inspection of the measured locations and measuring devices by all team members combined with the expert description of the measurement principles and conditions by members of work-package Observation was very beneficial. This will greatly help to improve use and correct interpretations of the measured data in other work-packages of the project. The next personal meeting is planned in Bergen, Norway, in September 2022.





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Accompanying meteorological measurements using special mobile measuring devices

Apr 12, 2022

The accompanying measuring network also includes tools capable of measuring selected meteorological variables in a vertical profile above the city. These instruments include a passive microwave radiometer (for measuring the temperature profile), a Doppler aerosol lidar (for measuring wind profiles and aerosol layers) and a mobile telescopic meteorological mast designed for measuring temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric air pressure and wind speed and direction in the field.




Measurement campaign for model validation

Mar 21, 2022

As part of the TURBAN project, an accompanying measurement campaign is planned in selected parts of Prague, which will serve to verify and improve software tools for microscale modelling of meteorology and air quality in the city (i.e. modelling in space of units of meters).




Summary of the project and the activities in 2021

Feb 15, 2022

The TURBAN project studies urban air quality and thermal comfort using street-scale turbulence-resolving models. The main focus of the project in 2021 was on building and calibration of a sensor observation network in Prague centre, preparation and improvement of the model and supporting tools, design of the model validation and sensitivity experiments, including domain selection and model configuration, and gathering and processing input data. To harmonise the design of our research and experiments with the main users of the results, the plans were consulted with the Municipalities of the involved cities and their districts. Despite of the limitations caused by Covid-19 pandemic, most of the planned activities were realized according to the plan.




Project presentation

Dec 2, 2021

The project was presented (in czech) at a consultation meeting of researchers of selected research projects in the field of adaptation of the capital city of Prague on the premises of the Prague Innovation Centre. The participants were informed about the project's scope and main objectives, the work to be carried out in the coming months and the range of scenarios envisaged.




Monitoring Visit

Oct 12, 2021

In October 2021, the monitoring visit of the TURBAN project took place at the Institute of Informatics CAS. The visit was attended by TA CR consultants Dominika Paclíková and Zuzana Dostálová, the Principal Investigator of the project Jaroslav Resler and his team members, and representatives of the Czech partners. The current status of the project implementation, the schedule of the planned activities, and the distribution of these activities among the project partners were presented.

Afterwards, the detailed description of all particular activities in the project and the planned activities for next period was presented:

  • publication of an advertisement for the position of "Junior Developer" and admission of two doctoral students to the project team within the open competition;
  • purchase of technical measuring equipment;
  • selection of observation locations;
  • measuring campaign in summer 2021 and winter (12/2021);
  • The configuration of the modeling tools and scenarios were prepared for specific conditions based on the observation design;
  • works on the model itself and supporting modelling tools requested for efficient accomplishment of the simulations;
  • preparation and tests of the HPC computational environments for modelling of the planned experiments;
  • acquiring and preparation of the input data for modelling domain and episodes;
  • adjustment of the tools needed for evaluation of the experiments validating the modelling results against observations;
  • preparation of scenarios for Prague and Bergen, which will then be published in GIS applications;
  • negotiations with potential users of the results;
  • creation a project website and also a project logo for using in the aggregation and dissemination of results;
  • publishing of several articles related to the project, published in open access

Following project activities focused on Data fusion and Comparison of LES and Gaussian models will be implemented according to the plan from the year 2022. The monitoring visit was carried out in good condition and was positively evaluated.

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Project start

Oct 29, 2020

The TURBAN project (Turbulent-resolving urban modeling of air quality and thermal comfort) was designed within the first public invitation for a Program for the support of applied research, experimental development and innovation, KAPPA.

This program focuses on extending knowledge in applied research through international co-operation with partners from the Czech Republic and Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein. In the Czech Republic the project is administered by the Technology Agency Czech Republic. First public invitation took place between Jan 2019 and Feb 2020. The TURBAN project was accepted and realization officially began on Jan 1, 2021.

TURBAN is a 3-year project focused on the issue of turbulent atmospheric flow in urban regions and development of advanced tools for the assessment of thermal comfort and air quality in cities. Results of the project can then be used to devise measured to reduce thermal stress and air pollution in cities.

Main solver of the project is the Institute of Computer Science of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Norway is represented by Nansen Environmental and Remote Sensing Centre in Bergen. Co-solvers are organizations focused on meteorological modelling and air quality assessment – the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Department of Atmospheric Physics at the Charles University and ATEM - Studio of Ecological Models. Applied part, related to outputs for the purposes of city authorities and city planning, coordinated by the Prague City, Institute for planning and development in Prague, Bergen commune (Bergen city administration), Port of Bergen and urban documentation planners.

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