Global High Resolution (1 km×1 km) Urban Heat Extremes and Population Exposure Dataset (1979–2016)

This dataset includes the yearly estimates of urban heat extremes and urban population exposure to extreme heat in 13,126 global urban settlements during 1979–2016, based on high spatial resolution (1 km×1 km) population and daily minimum (Tmin), maximum (Tmax), and mean (Tavg) near-surface air temperatures. Extreme heat events are identified when daily temperature (Tmin, Tmax, or Tave) is greater than its corresponding 90^th percentile of the calendar day centered on a 15-day window in 1981–2010. Heat extremes with different durations (i.e., ≥1 day, ≥3 days, ≥6 days, and 3–5 days) are identified, and heat metrics including frequency, duration, intensity, and timing (i.e., onset and termination dates) are calculated. Urban population exposure is calculated as the yearly number of extreme heat days multiplied by the count of people exposed to extreme heat. Daily temperatures are derived from the CHELSA-W5E5 v1.0 dataset (https://data.isimip.org/10.48364/ISIMIP.836809.2), and population counts in global urban settlements are derived from the GHS-UCDB R2019A v1.2 dataset (https://ghsl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ghs_stat_ucdb2015mt_r2019a.php).

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact Miss Hui Zhang via zhangh573@mail2.sysu.edu.cn, Dr. Ming Luo via luom38@mail.sysu.edu.cn, or Dr. Tao Pei via peit@lreis.ac.cn.

Reference:

Zhang, H., Luo, M., Pei, T., Liu, X., Wang, L., Zhang, W., Lin, L., Ge, E., Liu, Z. and Liao, W., 2023. Unequal urban heat burdens impede climate justice and equity goals. The Innovation, p.100488. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2023.100488.