Urban Climate
The Urban Climate Team at ACINN works to improve understanding of atmospheric processes in cities, with a particular focus on cities in complex terrain. Besides fundamental research into a broad range of urban climate processes, we also work on more applied topics related to urban design. To gain insight into the complex urban atmosphere we use a variety of tools: mesoscale numerical models at scales from 10 km to 1 km, large-eddy simulations down to 1 m, empirical modelling and different observational techniques, including long-term turbulence measurements from the Innsbruck Atmospheric Observatory and remote sensing instruments to profile the boundary layer.
The Urban Climate Team sits within Atmospheric Dynamics at ACINN.
For more information, please contact Helen WARD (PLANKL) at helen.ward@uibk.ac.at
Courses: Search in LFU:online
Current research topics include:
urban turbulence and surface-atmosphere exchange
the structure of the urban boundary layer
positive and negative effects of urban design decisions (with the Department of Environmental Engineering)
climate change in cities (with the Ice and Climate group)
air quality in urban areas (with the Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry group)
Projects
Ongoing projects
- SCHiRM: Surface-atmosphere interactions in complex landscapes using high-resolution modelling (FWF project, 2022-, PI Helen Ward)
- Multi-year SUEWS simulations (funded by UIBK Research Center for Climate – Cryosphere and Atmosphere, 2024)
Completed projects
- Understanding turbulent exchange over urban areas in highly complex terrain (FWF project, 2017-2021, PI Helen Ward)
- CELINE: Spatial patterns in ceilometer observations along the Inn Valley (IWCR project, 2025)
Student theses
Completed student theses
- Characterising surface-atmosphere exchange at urban and forest sites in the Inn Valley, Austria (MSc thesis, Silbernagl (2026))
- Using the SUEWS model to investigate urban climate and climate sensitive urban design in Innsbruck (MSc thesis, Hieger (2026))
- Assessing carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions based on eddy covariance observations in Innsbruck (MSc thesis, Achaab (2025))
- Boundary layer structures above Innsbruck measured by a passive microwave radiometer (MSc thesis, Scheiber (2025))
- Investigating the impact of urban characteristics on meteorological conditions in and around Innsbruck (MSc thesis, Ströbel (2025))
- Urban Climate in Complex Topography: Analysis of Ensemble Kilometer-Scale Climate Simulations (MSc thesis, Zerbst (2025)). Awarded best assessed master's thesis of the Faculty of Geo- and Atmospheric Sciences 2025
- Modelling urban climates across Austria (BSc thesis, Steger (2025))
- Turbulence profiles within an urban canyon (BSc thesis, Schröger (2025))
- Micrometeorological profiles within the urban canopy (BSc thesis, Zellmer (2024))