Changing horizon of climate science: from scientific knowledge towards demand based, integrated climate services

Identifier:  TDX:2739

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX2739

Authors:  Lehoczky, Annamária

Abstract:
Climate Services (CS) assign an additional role to Climate Science, aiming to provide different kinds of users with usable and actionable information on climate variability, climate change impacts and its related risks, opportunities and uncertainties. Thus, to bridge the gap between reliable data and their usability, CS research is highly important. This interdisciplinary research thesis addresses the climate information distillation challenge. Its overall aim is to pave the way for the integration of regional and local climate information into CS that support climate adaptation planning and policy-making. The novelty of this thesis is that it reflects on the user-oriented approach of CS, i.e., as well as quantitative climatological analysis, it also uses qualitative social data to better understand the needs of practitioners and academics engaged in climate-related knowledge co-production. The thesis uses various datasets, including remotely sensed land surface temperature data, ground-measured meteorological data and temperature simulations obtained from a high resolution (12.5 km) regional climate model. The recommendations are supported by practical experience. The local scale case study offers valuable new insights into the urban heat hazard in the city of Valencia (Spain), revealing the considerable nighttime urban heat island effect along with unfavourable thermal comfort in the densely built-up urban areas. This underlines the need for climate-resilient urban planning, especially in light of the projected gradual warming trend over the entire Iberian Peninsula towards the end of the 21st century. To explore the factors that influence the efficiency of transdisciplinary collaborations working on urban climate adaptation and planning, in-depth interviews were conducted with academics and practitioners. This thesis demonstrated that integrating different disciplines and perspectives is vital for efficient CS. An improved understanding of the needs and motives of stakeholders from science and practice communities greatly contributes to the development of CS.