Meteorological and ancillary data resources for climate research in urban areas

Abstract

An increasing plethora of both meteorological and ancillary data are presently available for climate research and applications in urban areas. The data are often held by local or national institutions (i.e., meteorological services, universities or environmental agencies). This paper outlines a total number of 33 datasets, organized into three main categories of meteorological data resources (14 datasets) and four categories of ancillary data resources (19 datasets), selected for their potential to support urban climate studies, but also for their free accessibility. Such a collection cannot be exhaustive, but we aim to draw the attention of the scientific community to relevant datasets, freely available at temporal and spatial resolutions appropriate for urban climatology. Each dataset contains information about its availability, limitations, and examples of research in urban areas.