Title: Strengthening national capability in urban climate science: an Australian perspective Show Chinese title

Title: 加强国家在城市气候科学方面的能力：澳大利亚的视角

Abstract: Cities are experiencing significant warming and more frequent climate extremes, raising risks for over 90% of Australians living in cities. Yet many of our tools for climate prediction and projection lack accurate representations of these environments. We also lack the observations and datasets needed to evaluate model performance. This paper identifies critical gaps in Australias current capability, showing how they undermine climate impact and risk assessments in cities and may lead to poorly designed adaptation and mitigation strategies. These gaps, and the recommendations to address them, were identified through consultation with experts across research institutes, universities, two ARC Centres of Excellence, federal and state governments, and private agencies. Our recommendations span four key areas: city descriptive datasets, integrated observations, fit for purpose models, and a coordinated community of research and practice. Urgent action is needed to tailor models to Australia's unique urban landscapes and climates. This requires comprehensive, nationally consistent, high resolution datasets that capture the form, fabric, and function of contemporary and future cities. It also requires filling systematic gaps in integrated networks of urban climate observations for evaluation and benchmarking. At the same time, scientific understanding of key urban processes that influence weather and climate must advance, alongside improvements in their representation in physical models. This can be achieved through a national community of research and practice that codesigns and oversees an implementation plan, integrated with infrastructure such as ACCESS NRI and AURIN. Building this capability will enable us to answer critical questions about the interaction between cities and climate, protecting Australias urban populations and ensuring a resilient future. Show Chinese abstract

Abstract: 城市正在经历显著的变暖和更频繁的气候极端事件，这对生活在城市中的超过90%的澳大利亚人构成了风险。 然而，我们许多用于气候预测和模拟的工具缺乏对这些环境的准确描述。 我们还缺乏评估模型性能所需的观测数据和数据集。 本文指出了澳大利亚当前能力中的关键差距，展示了这些差距如何削弱城市中的气候影响和风险评估，并可能导致设计不当的适应和减缓策略。 这些差距以及为解决它们提出的建议，是通过与研究机构、大学、两个ARC卓越中心、联邦和州政府以及私营机构的专家进行咨询确定的。 我们的建议涵盖四个关键领域：城市描述性数据集、综合观测、适用于特定用途的模型，以及一个协调的研究与实践社区。 需要紧急行动，以使模型适应澳大利亚独特的城市景观和气候。 这需要全面、全国一致、高分辨率的数据集，以捕捉当代和未来城市的形态、结构和功能。 同时，还需要填补城市气候观测综合网络中的系统性空白，以用于评估和基准测试。 与此同时，必须提升对影响天气和气候的关键城市过程的科学理解，并改进其在物理模型中的表示。 这可以通过一个国家的研究与实践社区来实现，该社区共同设计并监督实施方案，并与基础设施如ACCESS NRI和AURIN相结合。 建立这种能力将使我们能够回答关于城市与气候相互作用的关键问题，保护澳大利亚的城市人口并确保一个有韧性的未来。