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About

ASU is #1!

Several recent bibliometric analyses published by other teams have established that ASU is the top group of urban climate researchers in the world. In a 2018 study in Theoretical and Applied Climatology, Huang and Lu noted that ASU is #1 in the world in terms of research impact in urban heat studies and #2 in the world in terms of quantity of published urban heat research. A more recent article in Sustainability by Xue et al., 2020 found that ASU ranked #1 in the world in terms of institutions contributing to the use of urban climate zone analysis techniques.

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About Our Research

The Urban Climate Research Center (UCRC), housed in the School of Geographical Sciences & Urban Planning at ASU, employs a collaborative social/physical science framework to address critical issues in the urban atmospheric environment. Our core mission is to advance fundamental knowledge of processes in the urban atmosphere, and related interactions among urban systems by supporting and facilitating interdisciplinary research activities of our faculty affiliates.

The center integrates social and physical science in this domain to develop and test urban design/management policies and strategies that enhance the productivity, health, and sustainability of urban populations. End point concerns for this center include extreme heat, air quality, flooding & drought, urban ecology, and infrastructure services including energy, water, and transportation.

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Our vision has 4 key elements:

  1. The UCRC will become a national and international leader in urban climate science initiatives and activities.
  2. The UCRC will be a convener of interdisciplinary, inter-institutional, and international teams of urban climate researchers
  3. The UCRC will be recognized nationally for its seamless integration of science and policy for the direct benefit of end users ranging from local governments to industry partners
  4. ASU will be the university of choice for graduate students, postdocs, and faculty interested in conducting research in the areas of urban climate science and policy