Pilot Service Urban Heat
The Urban Heat Pilot ServiceRegular provision of technological capabilities, resources, More leverages data from DestinE’s Climate Change Adaptation digital twin (Climate DT) to deliver neighbourhood-scale urban heat insights — down to 100–200 m resolution — for European cities.
In a nutshell
- The Urban Heat Pilot Service leverages data from DestinE’s Climate Change Adaptation digital twin (Climate DT) to deliver neighbourhood-scale urban heat insights — down to 100–200 m resolution — for European cities.
- Developed by VITO (with Tecnalia as a key partner), the service equips city planners, health authorities, and regional stakeholders with dynamic heat-stress indicators — from tropical nights and heat-wave days to heat-related mortality and lost working hours — supporting data-driven climate adaptation strategies.
- The service will be accessible via the DestinE Service Platform, offering visualisation, scenario testing, and downloadable data packages.
Technical Overview
Challenge
Urban areas across Europe face growing risks from increasingly frequent and intense heat waves, amplified by the Urban Heat Island effect — a consequence of dense infrastructure, limited green space, and heat-retaining materials. This threatens public health, productivity, and infrastructure. Yet, many cities lack access to fine-scale, heat-specific climate data needed to support evidence-based decision-making.
DestinE Solution
The Urban Heat Pilot Service builds on the (Climate DT) to integrate global climate projections and downscale them with the UrbClim urban climate model. This produces neighbourhood-scale heat-stress indicators at 100–200 m resolution, and, for selected areas, at resolutions up to 1 m.
The system enables interactive scenario testing, allowing users to evaluate adaptation strategies such as urban greening, reflective surfaces, soil unsealing, and cool islands. Visualisations and data outputs (GeoTIFF, NetCDF, PNG) will be available for download directly from the DestinE Service Platform.
The service addresses the urban heat challenge by providing:
- Fine-scale, actionable indicators tailored to neighbourhood impacts (e.g., tropical nights, heat-related mortality, lost working hours).
- Scenario testing tools to assess the effectiveness of adaptation measures on local heat dynamics.
- Co-design with end-users, involving key urban networks — Climate Alliance, Euro Cities, ICLEI, and the Resilient Cities Network — to ensure usability and uptake.
- Seamless integration within the DestinE ecosystem, powered by Climate DT and the DestinE Data Lake for high-resolution modelling, results distribution, and user interaction.
Impact
By delivering city- and neighbourhood-scale insights into heat stress, the Urban Heat Pilot Service empowers cities to design and prioritise adaptation measures effectively.
Key benefits include:
- Improved heat action planning and early-warning systems tailored to local risks.
- Reduced health impacts, potentially lowering heat-related mortality and labour losses.
- Better-informed urban design and investment decisions, promoting nature-based and cooling interventions.
- Stronger institutional collaboration, bridging scientific knowledge, municipal practice, and EU policy frameworks.
Through its deployment on the DestinE platform, this pilot will demonstrate how Earth system-based digital twins can translate climate science into tangible adaptation services, advancing Europe toward more resilient, climate-adaptive cities.
Contributions
Providers
