Das Projekt "Urban Climate Study of Bucharest/Romania" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Basel, Institut für Meteorologie, Klimatologie und Fernerkundung durchgeführt. This proposal for a joint Romanian-Swiss Research Project (RSRP) is based on the expertise of two different research areas of the partner universities: it combines boundary layer meteorology meas-urements, numerical modelling and remote sensing on the Swiss side (Department for Environmental Sciences - Meteorology, Climatology and Remote Sensing (MCR Lab) University Basel) and regional development, civil engineering as well as Geographic Information System (GIS) and spatial data analysis of satellite data on the Romanian side (Urban Engineering and Regional Development Department, Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest). From this starting point the proposed project offers unique possibilities by integrating basic research on the urban climate and air pollution of the Bucharest region, analysis of time series of spatially distributed data from satellites, the application of the results for urban and regional planning, and the transfer and implementation of methodologies and spatially distributed data for local planning authorities. The main topics are 1.) to investigate how the Romanian Revolution in 1989 has changed the envi-ron mental situation and the urban climate in Bucharest over the last 30 - 40 years by means of satellite data analysis, 2.) to study the on-going meteorological processes by direct measurements of radiation and heat fluxes at 3 - 4 micrometeorological flux towers within the city area covering different types of land cover. This type of data like heat and CO2 fluxes has partly never been measured in Bucharest. 3.) A method widely used in many western countries like Switzerland, Germany or in East Asia (Japan, Hong Kong) how to transfer the results of complex meteorological measurements and data into information required and used by local and regional planning authorities. This has never been carried out in Romania and the technique will be implemented at the University Bucharest. 4.) Using numerical urban climate models like ENVI-met potential urban planning scenarios will be simulated to improve urban climate, human comfort, air pollution and health. For the radiation and heat flux measurements the maintenance of 3 - 4 flux towers is foreseen. Discussion on adequate locations is on-going but the final decision can only be made after a visit of the local situation at the beginning of the project. The flux towers will be equipped with state-of-the-art instruments for radiation measurements and ultra-sonic anemometers for turbulence measurements using the eddy-correlation method. CO2 fluxes at the flux tower locations will be measured by an open-gas analyser. Particulate matter (PM10) is planned to be collected by a passive sampling device developed and used by the German Weather Service. (...)