Present and future daily air temperature records and indicator maps for 54 African cities at 300 m resolution

This dataset provides daily minimum and maximum 2 m air temperature (Tmin and Tmax) and 31 climate and heat-stress indicator maps for 54 African cities at 300 m resolution, covering present-day conditions and four future climate and urban-development scenarios.

The dataset combines high-resolution urban climate simulations with projected climate change and urban expansion. It covers multiple aspects of urban heat, including extreme temperatures, warm nights, urban heat island intensity, heatwaves, thermal stress and potential impacts on outdoor working conditions.

Spatial resolution is 300 m for 51 cities and 600 m for Cairo, Johannesburg and Luanda.

Cities covered

Abeche, Abuja, Ali Sabieh, Antananarivo, Asmara, Bamako, Bata, Bo, Bouake, Brazzaville, Cairo, Carnot, Casablanca, Darou Mousty, Dodoma, Franceville, Gaborone, Gabu, Galkayo, Gbarnga, Gitega, Harare, Johannesburg, Juba, Kankan, Khartoum, Kigali, Kinshasa, Kumasi, Luanda, Lusaka, Maseru, Mbabane, Mbale City, Moroni, Nairobi, Naqamte, Niamey, Nouakchott, Ouahigouya, Parakou, Port Louis, Praia, Sao Tome, Serrekunda, Sokode, Tete, Tiaret, Tripoli, Tunis, Victoria, Windhoek, Yaounde and Zomba.

Climate periods and scenarios

Present-day conditions are simulated using the UrbClim urban climate model (De Ridder et al., 2015), driven by ERA5 reanalysis. Future conditions combine UrbClim simulations with projected urban land use from GeoDynamiX (White et al., 2012) and CMIP6-based temperature adjustments using a delta quantile-mapping approach (Souverijns et al., 2023).

Future daily records represent climate-adjusted historical weather sequences. The methodology and temporal conventions are described in README.txt.

Dataset variables

Each city contains daily minimum (tmin) and maximum (tmax) 2 m air temperature in °C, together with the following 31 spatial indicators for each climate and urban-development configuration.

Air temperature and heat extremes

Urban heat island

Heat stress (WBGT)

Working conditions

Indicators are averaged over 20 reference-weather years, except for SSP2-4.5/2090, which covers 18 years. Counts and accumulated quantities represent mean annual values. Full indicator definitions, calculation methods and assumptions are provided in INDICATORS.csv and the NetCDF metadata.

Files and documentation

The dataset contains 54 city-specific ZIP archives, each containing one NetCDF-4 file (CAIAC_<city>_all_runs.nc) with all five configurations, daily temperature records, indicator maps, coordinates and scientific metadata.

Two shared documentation files are provided:

• README.txt: Methodology, climate scenarios, temporal conventions, data structure, units and Python reading example.

• INDICATORS.csv: Definitions, units, aggregation methods and references for all 31 indicators.

The NetCDF files include CF-1.8 metadata and can be read using standard scientific tools such as Python/xarray, R or GIS software.

Related publication

The scientific context and research gaps motivating the CAIAC project are discussed in:

De Ridder, K., et al. (2026). Review article: Climate hazards in African cities – knowledge gaps and research needs. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, 26, 5219–5239. https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-5219-2026

The review highlights the limited availability of high-resolution urban climate information for African cities and the need to better integrate future climate change and urban development in climate-risk assessments.

Acknowledgement

This dataset was produced by VITO within CAIAC (Climate Analysis in African Cities), a study undertaken under the authority of the European Space Agency (ESA).

https://climate.esa.int/en/supporting-the-paris-agreement/climate-analysis-in-african-cities/