Temperature sensor systems (KLIPS): Going high tech to become a heat-resilient city

From 2023, sensors are set to help better record the city's vast temperature fluctuations. Artificial intelligence (AI) will be used to identify heat islands and propose more targeted measures for adapting to heat. To do this, Dresden is participating in the KLIPS temperature sensor-system research project, which seeks to create new tools for urban development. The German Federal Ministry for Digital Technology and Transport has put some 2.3 million euros into funding the research project as part of the 'mFUND' (modernisation fund) funding guidelines. The project is also part of the EU's MAtchUP project, a programme to develop Dresden as a smart city.

Dresden is growing, and there's a lot of construction going on. This concentration of construction projects keeps the city attractive in the region. But the increasing density in some districts is making things more cramped, and therefore hotter in summer. In fact, green and open spaces that provide cooling are being built up, which impacts negatively on cold-air outlets. The city is already being affected by heat islands - places where the temperature is much higher than the respective surrounding area. And climate change is accelerating the problem. In its quest to find ways of combating the heat, the City of Dresden has now joined the KLIPS research project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, as a pilot city.

Objectives

KLIPS aims to reliably predict heat islands and simulate and test counter-measures. A digital information platform, for example, will ensure that, using a combination of a local sensor network ('cluster sensor systems') and artificial intelligence, heat islands can not only be located, but also predicted, in real time. It is important here to assess suitable measures in advance and, of all the alternatives available, select those offering maximum effect and/or minimal restrictions for living, working and transport. A network of some 300 sensors is being set up in Dresden, and will continuously supply the latest temperature data. The sensor data obtained will be combined with other data, such as satellite, land-register, weather and climate data, and analysed in real time, enabling any heat islands in the metropolitan area to be located. At the same time, the collected data will be used to teach AI algorithms how to predict and simulate heat islands.

Wolfgang Socher, head of the City of Dresden's Environmental Office has this to say: 'Climate change is seeing the City of Dresden face an enormous construction task, as well as a significant challenge of dealing with the rising temperatures. To ensure our city remains attractive and liveable even in the future, we want to use the tools developed here to manage our work in a more targeted manner. Applying the findings gained from planning districts and designing buildings will be key to success and acceptance.' Dr Robert Franke, head of the Office of Economic Development, adds: 'New data sources and smart technologies are the key to greater heat resilience. With partners from science and business, we will test and optimise these for the good of the city.'

Partners and involved parties

The project runs for three years. The lead manager is Software AG. The research partners are ERGO Umweltinstitut GmbH, the German Aerospace Centre, the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, the Institute for Information Systems at the Hochschule Hof University of Applied Sciences, the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development, Pikobytes GmbH, terrestris GmbH & Co. KG and meggsimum (the Christian Mayer Geoinformatics Office), as well as the City of Dresden as application partner, and the City of Langenfeld as associated partner. KLIPS is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Digital Technology and Transport (BMVI) as part of mFUND, which focuses on digital data-based mobility 4.0 applications.

As such, the project is classified among the activities of the Dresden MAtchUP project, which is being supported by European funding as part of the EU's Horizon 2020 research framework programme. Thheferofer, it gives Dresden a new perspective on the data-driven expansion of existing tools.

About MAtchUP

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The EU MAtchUP project has been carried out by the cities of Dresden, Valencia (Spain) and Antalya (Turkey) since 2017, and focuses on the issues of energy efficiency, digitisation, renewable energies, multimodal mobility and electromobility. The project itself thus revolves around creating smart, clean cities capable to facing up to the challenges of climate change. The Office of Economic Development is co-ordinating the project in Dresden. SachsenEnergie AG, Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe AG, the Technische Universität Dresden, the Fraunhofer Institute for Transportation and Infrastructure Systems (IVI), EA Systems Dresden GmbH and Vonovia SE are all helping out with the project.
For more information, visit www.dresden.de/matchup