CARMINE - D2.6 B-Kode: High-Resolution Urban Climate and Thermal Comfort Dataset for 7 Case Study Areas

Description

This dataset contains high-resolution spatial data generated as part of Deliverable 2.6 of the CARMINE project. It provides detailed urban morphological and land cover characterizations, along with a modeled thermal comfort metric (Universal Thermal Climate Index - UTCI) for seven European Case Study Areas (CSAs): Athens, Barcelona, Birmingham, Bologna, Brașov, Leipzig, and Prague.

The input geographic data was generated using the Urbanscape framework (see Section 2.1 of DS2.6_TechnicalNote_B-Kode), which processes universally available global data products. Together with ERA5 meteorological reanalysis data, these inputs drive the GLIDE-SOL modeling infrastructure (Zonato et al., 2026) which utilizes a GPU-accelerated version of the SOLWEIG urban climate model to produce high-resolution (2 x 2 m²) output maps (see Section 2.3 of DS2.6_TechnicalNote_B-Kode). 

These outputs represent an initial version of the dataset intended to support the assessment of urban heat stress and the potential impact of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS). Future project phases will focus on (i) the further validation of the GLIDE-SOL framework and (ii) the explicit simulation of various NbS scenarios.

For more information and a full description of the data with figures and graphs, it is recommended to read the pdf-file: DS2.6_TechnicalNote_B-Kode.

References

Zonato, A., Kamath, H.G., Sudharsan, N., Monaco, L., Kittner, J., Wolf, L., Demuzere, M., Middel, A., Bechtel, B., and Milelli, M., 2026. GLIDE-SOL: A GPU-accelerated Global Lightweight Infrastructure for Diagnostic Environmental Modeling with SOLWEIG. Geoscientific Model Development.  https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-776/

File structure

The dataset consists of 7 ZIP archives, one for each Case Study Area (CSA), with its GHS-UCDB ID as prefix:

• 560_Prague_CzechRepublic.zip

• 854_Athens_Greece.zip

• 1878_Brasov_Romania.zip

• 3065_Bologna_Italy.zip

• 3888_Birmingham_UnitedKingdom.zip

• 5071_Barcelona_Spain.zip

• 5304_Leipzig_Germany.zip

Each ZIP archive contains the following GeoTIFF (.tif) raster files:

1. Morphological & Land Cover Inputs

These layers represent the static digital version of the city used as input for the thermal comfort modeling:

• • Landuse.tif: A categorical land cover map, where pixel values correspond to:

    • 1: Paved (impervious surfaces, roads, buildings)

    • 2: Vegetation (trees, grass, shrubs)

    • 3: Water (rivers, lakes, sea, ocean)

    • 4: Bare Soil / Sand / None of the above

  • Buildings.tif: Building heights (in meters above ground level). Non-building pixels are assigned a No Data value.

  • Trees.tif: Canopy Height Model (CHM) representing vegetation height (in meters above ground level) derived from high-resolution global canopy products (e.g., Meta Forest Monitoring). Non-tree pixels are assigned a No Data value.

  • SVF_static.tif: Sky View Factor map calculated using SOLWEIG, from the combined building and vegetation data. Values range from 0 (completely obstructed sky) to 1 (open sky).

2. Thermal Comfort (UTCI) Outputs

Maps representing the percentage of hours during a selected 3-day heatwave event where the UTCI exceeded specific thresholds. These UTCI thresholds (X °C) are predefined and vary by city to best highlight local heat stress gradients.

• • Hours_UTCI_gte_threshold_[X]C_day.tif: Percentage of daytime hours where UTCI ≥ X°C.

  • Hours_UTCI_gte_threshold_[X]C_night.tif: Percentage of nighttime hours where UTCI ≥ X°C.

  • Hours_UTCI_gte_threshold_[X]C_full.tif: Percentage of total hours (day + night) where UTCI ≥ X°C.

Technical Specifications

• Spatial Resolution: 2x2 m²

• Time Period: The thermal comfort maps correspond to a specific 3-day heatwave event selected for each city.

• Athens (854): 2021-08-01 to 2021-08-03

• Barcelona (5071): 2023-08-21 to 2023-08-23

• Birmingham (3888): 2022-07-17 to 2022-07-19

• Bologna (3065): 2019-06-25 to 2019-06-27

• Brașov (1878): 2024-07-13 to 2024-07-15

• Leipzig (5304): 2022-07-18 to 2022-07-20

• Prague (560): 2019-07-23 to 2019-07-25

• Coordinate Reference System (CRS): UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) zone specific to each city's location: 

• Prague (560): UTM Zone 33N (EPSG: 32633)

• Athens (854): UTM Zone 34N (EPSG: 32634)

• Brașov (1878): UTM Zone 35N (EPSG: 32635)

• Bologna (3065): UTM Zone 32N (EPSG: 32632)

• Birmingham (3888): UTM Zone 30N (EPSG: 32630)

• Barcelona (5071): UTM Zone 31N (EPSG: 32631)

• Leipzig (5304): UTM Zone 33N (EPSG: 32633)