From citizens to satellites to aircraft: What are emerging sources of data for urban climate adaptation?

Cities are increasingly vulnerable to the intensifying effects of climate change, particularly in the form of heatwaves and the phenomenon of urban heat islands. The CityCLIM project aims to mitigate these risks by leveraging emerging data sources — citizen science, satellite-based Earth Observation (EO), and airborne-based EO — to collect and transform climate information into accessible, actionable knowledge for diverse stakeholders. Through citizen engagement, the project democratises climate data and sensors, while fostering collaborative strategies between citizens and city administration. The integration of satellite and airborne data further aids in decision-making, offering high-resolution land surface temperature (LST) maps that underpin urban planning and public health responses. Despite challenges such as data privacy concerns and the need for technical capacity among stakeholders, the project demonstrates the transformative potential of these emerging data sources in bridging knowledge gaps. Ultimately, CityCLIM not only addresses gaps in climate knowledge generation but also supports stakeholders to implement effective adaptation strategies, reinforcing the imperative for continual innovation in climate data methodologies to address the complexities of urban climate resilience.