Climate change is leading to an increase in the frequency and intensity of heatwave events across the globe.
The Thermal Assessment Tool provides a user-friendly means of visualizing past, present, and future extreme heatwave events in European regions and cities. It allows a user-friendly means of understanding heatwaves characteristics (maximum temperature, duration, intensity) over the last 42 years (1981-2022) and how these specific characteristics of heat waves will evolve in the coming decades. Additionally, the tool provides high-resolution (30m) land surface temperature (LST) map as way to characterize the heat phenomena evolution at city level based on remote sensing observations from Landsat 8 (2013-2023).
It offers a easy-to-use interface to visualise complex climate data regarding the impact of extreme heat events. An online version of Thermal Assessment Tool is freely available to visualize past and future heatwave plots in REACHOUT cities and a similar approach can be used for ohter cities.
The tool allows end-users and decision makers to easily visualize how extreme heat events are at city level and it also projects how long, intense and frequency will be the heatwaves in the coming decades considering the intermediate (RCP4.5) and very high (RCP8.5) emissions scenarios. This rise awareness on citizens and support governments to prepare and protect the city through effective policy making.
Tecnalia offers the option to use the tool for other regions with two options:
The tool can be used in the following Triple-A phase:
Link to the tool
Link to the user manual
Nieves Peña Cerezo
tat@tecnalia.com
Climate Change Adaptation area, TECNALIA
Publications:
The Thermal Assessment Tool works specially well in combination with the Social Vulnerability tool to assess and visualize the risk considering heat hazard and heat related social vulnerability.
It also works well in combiantaton with pluvial risk assessment tool to analyse combined hazards. The heatmaps can also be integratef into the CRCTool to support effective locations for interventions.
During an extreme rainfall event, Jan watches in fear as water rises dangerously close to flooding his apartment. His experience highlights the urgent need for climate adaptation in Gdynia, inspiring the community to take action and build a more resilient future together.
