Tools for Local Climate Zone and Urban Heat Island Analysis in R

<!-- badges: end -->

The LCZ4r package provides a comprehensive suite of tools for analyzing and visualizing Local Climate Zones (LCZ) and Urban Heat Islands (UHI) in R. Designed for researchers, urban planners, and climate scientists, LCZ4r simplifies the process of downloading, processing, and interpreting LCZ data.

Scientific publication

The LCZ4r package is supported by the following peer-reviewed publication:

Listen to the LCZ4r Podcast

Dive deeper into the science behind LCZ4r with our exclusive podcast episode by generated by NotebookLM, where they discuss the package's development, applications, and impact on urban climate research.

Can't play the audio? Download the podcast.

Package Overview

The LCZ4r package includes the following key functions:

• Data Download:

  • lcz_get_map(): Download LCZ maps from the global dataset.
  • lcz_get_map_euro(): Download LCZ maps from the European dataset.
  • lcz_get_map_usa(): Download LCZ maps from the Continental United States dataset.
  • lcz_get_map_generator(): Download LCZ maps from the LCZ Generator Platform.

• Visualization:

  • lcz_plot_map(): Visualize LCZ maps.
  • lcz_plot_parameters(): Visualize LCZ parameter maps.
  • lcz_plot_interp(): Visualize LCZ interpolation results.

• Analysis:

  • lcz_cal_area(): Calculate the area of LCZ classes.
  • lcz_get_parameters(): Retrieve LCZ parameters.
  • lcz_ts(): Analyze LCZ time series.
  • lcz_anomaly(): Calculate LCZ thermal anomalies.
  • lcz_anomaly_map(): Map LCZ thermal anomalies.
  • lcz_interp_map(): Map LCZ interpolation results.
  • lcz_interp_eval(): Evaluate LCZ interpolation accuracy.
  • lcz_uhi_intensity(): Assess urban heat island intensity using LCZ data.

Run LCZ4r in Posit Cloud, no RStudio installation required!

LCZ4r-QGIS Plugin: Multilingual Integration

The LCZ4r-QGIS plugin integrates the LCZ4r package with QGIS, enabling users to analyze Local Climate Zones and urban heat islands directly within the QGIS environment. The plugin supports multiple languages, making it accessible to a global audience.

People

The development of the LCZ4r package is led by Dr. Max Anjos and supported by a team of researchers:

With the following contributors:

• Dr. Fred Meier, Chair of Climatology, Institute of Ecology, Technische Universitt Berlin (fred.meier@tu-berlin.de).
• Dr. Francisco Castelhano, Center for Climate Crisis Studies, Department of Geography, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (fjcastelhano@gmail.com).
• Dayvid Carlos de Medeiros, Center for Climate Crisis Studies, Department of Geography, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (Dayvid.medeiros.123@ufrn.edu.br).
• Antnio Campos Neto, Center for Climate Crisis Studies, Department of Geography, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Braziln (antoniocamposneto9@gmail.com).
• Jos Felipe da Costa Neto, Department of Geography, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Braziln (jose.felipe.124@ufrn.edu.br).

Funding

This project is supported by: - Coordenao de Aperfeioamento de Pessoal de Nvel Superior (CAPES) Finance Code 001. - Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Contact

For questions, suggestions, or collaboration opportunities, please contact us at maxanjos@campus.ul.pt. We welcome contributions to the development of this R package!

Inspiration

The LCZ4r package is inspired by the following works:

• Stewart, I., and T. Oke, 2012: Local Climate Zones for Urban Temperature Studies.

• Ching, J., et al., 2018: WUDAPT: An Urban Weather, Climate, and Environmental Modeling Infrastructure for the Anthropocene.

• Demuzere, M., et al., 2019: Mapping Europe into Local Climate Zones.

• Demuzere, M., et al., 2020: Combining Expert and Crowd-Sourced Training Data to Map Urban Form and Functions for the Continental US.

• Demuzere, M., et al., 2022: A Global Map of Local Climate Zones to Support Earth System Modelling and Urban-Scale Environmental Science.

Have Feedback or Suggestions?

We value your input! If you have ideas for improvement or spot any issues, please let us know by opening an issue on GitHub.

Open an Issue on GitHub