Urban Integrated Meteorological Observations: Practice and Experience in Shanghai, China

Abstract

Abstract Observations of atmospheric conditions and processes in cities are fundamental to understanding the interactions between the urban surface and weather/climate, improving the performance of urban weather, air quality, and climate models, and providing key information for city end users (e.g., decision makers, stakeholders, public). In this paper, Shanghai’s Urban Integrated Meteorological Observation Network (SUIMON) and some examples of intended applications are introduced. Its characteristics include being multipurpose (e.g., forecast, research, service), multifunction (e.g., high-impact weather, city climate, special end users), multiscale (e.g., macro/meso, urban, neighborhood, street canyon), multivariable (e.g., thermal, dynamic, chemical, biometeorological, ecological), and multiplatform (e.g., radar, wind profiler, ground based, satellite based, in situ observation/sampling). Underlying SUIMON is a data management system to facilitate exchange of data and information. The overall aim of the network is to improve coordination strategies and instruments, to identify data gaps based on science- and user-driven requirements, and to intelligently combine observations from a variety of platforms by using a data assimilation system that is tuned to produce the best estimate of the current state of the urban atmosphere.