Temperatures

Microclimatev31.00 credits/fixed

Responsible:Niccolò Calandri

Temperatures

Overview

Temperatures are calculated using meteorological stations present in the area and are measured in degrees Celsius (°C). The KPI shows the annual average temperature for the selected month, providing a synthetic reading of the local thermal regime over the years.

For future data, one of the SSP scenarios (Shared Socioeconomic Pathways) can be selected, linked to different levels of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The available scenarios are:

SSP1-2.6 — "Sustainability": very low greenhouse gas emissions; global warming kept below 1.5–2 °C
SSP2-4.5 — "Middle of the road": intermediate emissions; warming around 2.7 °C by 2100
SSP3-7.0 — "Regional rivalry": high emissions; warming around 3.6 °C by 2100
SSP5-8.5 — "Fossil-fuelled development": very high greenhouse gas emissions; warming > 4 °C by 2100

Calculation Methodology

The calculation distinguishes two data sources depending on the time horizon:

Horizon	Source	Detail
Historical (1940 – present)	Open-Meteo Historical Weather	ERA5-Land reanalysis, ~10 km
Future projections	Climate Data Store CMIP6	CMIP6 climate models, SSP scenarios

For historical data, the annual mean temperature is calculated by extracting daily or monthly values from the Open-Meteo grid for the representative point of the site. The reference baseline for anomalies is the period 1961–1990, the WMO climatological standard.

For future projections, CMIP6 models available in the Copernicus Climate Data Store (CDS) are used, aggregated by SSP scenario. Values are resampled to the site grid and averaged annually.

Versions:

Version	Description
v0	First implementation
v1	Methodological update
v2	SSP scenario integration
v3 (current)	Version with 1961–1990 baseline and all 4 SSP scenarios

Unit: degrees Celsius (°C)

Data Sources

Code	Name	Provider	Resolution	Availability
`WRD_OPNMT_99`	Open-Meteo Historical Weather	Open-Meteo (ERA5-Land)	~10 km	1940 — present
`WRD_CDSXX_99`	Climate Data Store CMIP6	Copernicus / ECMWF	variable	future projections (SSP)

Quality Range and Levels

This KPI is a historical series and future projections visualisation and does not include an A–E quality level classification. The value represents the absolute mean temperature (°C) and is interpreted in the context of local trends and SSP scenarios, not as an environmental performance indicator with fixed thresholds.

Technical Notes

The 1961–1990 baseline is the WMO climatological standard for computing thermal anomalies
SSP scenarios are defined by the IPCC in the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6, 2021)
CMIP6 models provide an ensemble of projections; displayed values represent the ensemble median
For month selection, the monthly average of the current year is extracted versus the historical mean for the same month
ERA5-Land reanalyses have a spatial resolution of ~9 km, scaled to ~10 km by Open-Meteo

References

IPCC (2021). "Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6)". Cambridge University Press.
WMO (2022). "State of the Global Climate 2022". World Meteorological Organization, WMO-No. 1316.
Hersbach, H. et al. (2020). "The ERA5 global reanalysis". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 146(730), 1999–2049.
O'Neill, B.C. et al. (2016). "The Scenario Model Intercomparison Project (ScenarioMIP) for CMIP6". Geoscientific Model Development, 9, 3461–3482.

Data Sources & References

Sources

WRD_OPNMT_99WRD_CDSXX_99

Methodology

Annual temperature average calculated from Open-Meteo Historical Weather (ERA5-Land reanalysis, ~10 km, 1940–present) for historical data. For future projections, CMIP6 models from the Copernicus Climate Data Store are used, aggregated by SSP scenario (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, SSP5-8.5). Reference baseline for anomalies: 1961–1990 (WMO standard). Versions v0→v1→v2→v3 (current).