Prof Sue Grimmond
Department of Meteorology
University of Reading
UK

Biography
Sue Grimmond joined Department of Meteorology, University of Reading in August 2013 from King's College, London. She is a past President of the International Association of Urban Climate (IAUC). Sue is an Editor for several journals and has received many prices for numerous important contributions that have greatly advanced urban meteorology and urban climate sciences, and for sustained and effective leadership that has energized the urban climate research community.

Abstract
Integrated Services Addressing Urban Weather, Climate and Related Environmental Hazards

The rapid urbanization that is currently taking place will require new types of services making best use of science and technology. Cities face unique sets of hazards and the services have to be tailored to these needs. This will require strong and wide-reaching institutional cooperation. Megacities and large urban complexes offer better job and education opportunities, and well-planned, densely populated areas can reduce land conversion and use energy more efficiently. However, these urban complexes present also numerous social and environmental challenges with many cities in developing countries expanding rapidly with poor planning. The new services will provide opportunities through weather, climate and environmental predictions for optimizing, e.g., the functioning of the urban environment in terms of energy and transport. City services will heavily rely on high resolution coupled environmental prediction models that will include realistic city specific processes, boundary conditions and fluxes of energy and physical properties. New observational systems focused on the urban environment will also be required, as will be data sharing between institutions, and skill and capacity to make best use of latest technologies, to produce services in the challenging and rapidly evolving city environment. These services will assist cities in facing hazards such as storm surge, flooding, heat waves, and air pollution episodes.