An ad hoc committee will plan and conduct a public workshop that will facilitate a dialog between the research community and the users of urban meteorology information by bringing together selected scientific experts (potentially including experts from other countries that are making strides in this field) with a wide array of representatives from end user communities. The committee will develop the workshop agenda, select and invite participants who will contribute presentations and take part in plenary and small group discussions, and moderate the discussions. The outcome of this activity will be a consensus report of the committee that builds on workshop presentations and discussions to provide conclusions on the following topics:
1. Briefly describe some of the advances in meteorological forecasting/monitoring in the past decade that have had the most impact on urban areas and why. Were any of these developed specifically for urban uses and, where not, what relationships or synergies led to developments in other areas being found to benefit urban uses?
2. What is the current state of urban level meteorological forecasting/monitoring capabilities?
• Are there important urban-level forecasting/monitoring capabilities that are not being utilized by the relevant end user communities, either due to lack of awareness that such capabilities exist, or failure to provide such information in a useable form?
• What needs for the end user communities are not being met by current urban-level forecasting/monitoring?
3. What is the future of urban level meteorological forecasting/monitoring capabilities?
• Are there emerging technologies in meteorological forecasting/monitoring that would help contribute to urban dwellers’ safety and well-being?
• What future needs or challenges might be anticipated in light of the potential additional stresses to be brought by the impacts of climate change?