Government-involved urban meteorological networks (UMNs): A global review

Abstract

Studies on urban climate are important to this rapidly urbanizing world as they play a role in monitoring the quality of life in urban areas. Urban meteorological networks (UMNs) have thus emerged in recent decades to collect data for urban climate research worldwide. Government involvement in an UMN project is beneficial to standardizing network configurations, maintaining stations durability, striking a balance between stakeholders from various disciplines, and the implementation of future climate-related policies. This review draws upon a total of 33 government-involved projects, examining their project objectives and outcomes, UMN configurations, and management methods. There are two common network types: single-sourced UMNs which are deployed more systematically, and crowdsourced UMNs which can be managed in a more cost-efficient manner while promoting citizen science. A major advantage of UMNs over conventional regional meteorological networks is its high-density setting that can increase spatial resolution of weather observations within the city. However, most UMNs are still at an experimental stage, and have room for improvement in data quality and robustness. Nevertheless, the reviewed projects demonstrated their importance in improving the understanding of urban microclimates, weather services, and cross-disciplinary research. To facilitate further advancement in the field of urban climate research, more comprehensive yet locally-adaptable guidelines are recommended regarding UMN setup, management, data quality check and interpretation. Governments are encouraged to continue taking the lead in collaborating with local communities and other cities, so that the full potential of UMNs in enhancing urban living quality and formulating future climate-related policies can be unleashed.