Regional Modelling for Geesthacht
New GERICS publications: City Series 04 & 05
In order to support municipalities in adapting to the impacts of climate change, new approaches have been developed and applied as part of the GERICS city tool kit. These prototype product developments have been carried out in close exchange with the Environment and Building Department of the City of Geesthacht. A key goal of this work is to illustrate that the use of - also simplified - digital models of the city can be good planning tools to analyze possible impacts of climate change on a small scale. Based on this, adaptation measures can be planned, justified and implemented in the context of urban development.
As part of this further development of the content of the GERICS City Series, the methodological focus is on freely available modelling approaches and their practical application, whereby two of the main challenges for cites haven been addressed by taking into account the topics "heat stress and thermal comfort" and "heavy rainfall and urban flooding".
The GERICS City Series 4 deals with the use of the rainfall-runoff model HEC-RAS, whereby different scenarios of possible heavy rainfall events have been modelled for the main area of the city as well as the model subareas "Geesthachter Straße" and "Hansastraße". This modelling approach answers the following questions in particular:
i) Where are the areas in the city that are predominantly/frequently flooded after heavy rain events and where adaptation measures are already necessary today?
ii) In which areas of the city could construction measures - such as redensification of existing development - increase flooding?
iii) Which surface runoff flow paths occur during heavy rainfall events?
GERICS City Series 04 (in German) - Bender, S., Groth, M., Wübbelmann, T. & Bockbreder, J. (2023): Eine Starkregenmodellierung für zentrale Bereiche des Stadtgebiets Geesthacht unter Nutzung des Modells HEC-RAS (22,7 MB)
Within the framework of the GERICS City Series 5, the urban climate model PALM-4U has been used, whereby the current situation of heat stress for the main area of the city - with a special focus on the model subareas "Geesthachter Straße" and "Hansastraße" - was modelled. The following questions are the main focus:
i) Which areas of the city are already experiencing high heat stress?
ii) Are there urban structures that have a more favorable thermal comfort?
iii) What influence can be expected from possible redensification in the model sub-areas under consideration and how could adaptation measures be designed there?
These approaches thus also address key aspects of the "Agenda 2030" - especially the need to build and maintain resilient infrastructure (Goal 9) and to make cities and settlements safe, resilient and sustainable (Goal 11). Furthermore, this overall approach is in line with the "New Leipzig Charter". This not only emphasizes the need to activate the transformative power of cities, but also highlights participation and co-creation as key principles for good urban governance.
GERICS City Series 05 (in German) - Bender, S., Groth, M., Schubert-Frisius, M. & Gehrke, J.-.M (2023): Eine Stadtklimamodellierung für zentrale Bereiche des Stadtgebiets Geesthacht unter Nutzung des Modells PALM-4U (19,1 MB)