Collaborative Research: PREEVENTS Track 2: Land-atmosphere feedbacks over urban terrain under heat waves

热浪是与天气有关的死亡率最重要的原因之一，并可能导致前所未有的电力需求高峰。虽然热浪通常是由大规模的大气环流模式引起的，但陆地-大气反馈可以进一步放大其局部强度。然而，在热浪下的城市地区的土地-大气反馈的调查是缺乏的，尽管城市地区是家庭超过50%的全球人口和80%的美国人口。该项目旨在促进对热浪下城市地区陆地-大气反馈的了解，并预测局部热浪对城市地区自然系统和人类活动的影响。该项目将为决策者提供科学依据和工具，通过科学简报、讲习班和外联活动让决策者参与，设计波士顿地区的热缓解战略。除了一名研究生和两名博士后研究人员的辅导外，该项目还将为本科生提供暑期研究机会，让他们参与解决真实的城市可持续发展挑战的跨学科研究。该项目产生的模拟和分析将被纳入PI教授的各种本科和研究生课程。特别是，该项目侧重于自然（例如，植被）和建造（例如，建筑物）组成部分的城市环境和当地的气象条件下热浪，以及它们在数值天气预报模式中的表现。通过分析现有的液流测量产生的新的理解将被纳入天气研究和预报（WRF）模型，以更好地预测热浪条件下的城市蒸散。建筑物能源使用对热浪条件的响应以及人为热通量的反馈如何进一步调节当地的气象条件也将使用WRF和城市规模的建筑物能源使用模型以迭代的方式进行量化。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Heat waves are one of the most important causes of weather-related mortality and could lead to unprecedented peak electricity demand. While heat waves are usually instigated by large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns, land-atmosphere feedbacks can further amplify their local magnitudes. However, investigations of land-atmosphere feedbacks over urban areas under heat waves are lacking, despite urban areas being home for over 50% of the global population and 80% of the US population. This project aims to advance the understanding of land-atmosphere feedbacks over urban areas under heat waves and the prediction of local heat wave impacts on natural systems and human activities in urban areas. This project will provide the scientific basis and tools for policy makers to design heat mitigation strategies over the Boston region by engaging policy makers through scientific briefings, workshops and outreach activities. Beyond the tutoring of one graduate student and two postdoctoral researchers, the project will provide summer research opportunities for undergraduate students to participate in interdisciplinary research tackling real urban sustainability challenges. The simulations and analyses generated by this project will be incorporated into various undergraduate and graduate courses that the PIs teach.In particular, this project focuses on the coupled dynamics and feedbacks between the natural (e.g., vegetation) and built (e.g., buildings) components of the urban environment and the local meteorological conditions under heat waves, and their representations in numerical weather prediction models. New understanding generated by analysis of existing sap flux measurements will be incorporated into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to better predict urban evapotranspiration under heat wave conditions. The response of building energy use to heat wave conditions and how the feedback of anthropogenic heat flux further modulates the local meteorological conditions will be also quantified in an iterative manner using WRF and a city scale building energy use model.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.