Real time modeling of coastal urban areas

The increased resolution of numerical weather prediction models allows nowadays addressing more realistically coastal and urban meteorology and air pollution processes. This has triggered new interest in modelling and describing experimentally the specific features and processes of urban areas, especially in coastal conditions. Recent developments and results performed within the EU project FUMAPEX on integrated systems for forecasting urban meteorology and air pollution are reported. Sensitivity studies with respect to optimum resolution, parametrisation of urban roughness and surface exchange fluxes and the role of urban soil and internal boundary layers due to urban and coastal heterogeneities are carried out with advanced meso- or sub-meso meteorological models. They show that sensible improvements can be achieved by higher model resolution that is accompanied with better description of coastal processes and urban surface features. Examples of forecasting and specific case studies for several European coastal cities are demonstrated. Recommendations, especially with respect to advanced urban air quality forecasting and information systems, are given together with an assessment of the needed further research and data.