Jacobs et al. (2026) Impact of fragmented urbanization on observed precipitation

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Identification

• Journal: Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-23
• Authors: Amber Jacobs, Kwinten Van Weverberg, Steven Caluwaerts
• DOI: 10.1002/qj.70276

Research Groups

• Department of Hydrology, University of Leuven
• Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO)

Short Summary

This study explores an innovative observation-centered method to analyze the impact of fragmented urban areas on downwind precipitation, revealing a decrease in frequency and increase in intensity during summer.

Objective

• Investigate the effect of urban land cover on precipitation patterns using an observation-centered approach

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Local scale, focusing on Belgium's rain gauge network
• Temporal Scale: Hourly and daily precipitation totals for 2013–2023

Methodology and Data

• Models used: Observation-centered method, classifying precipitation observations according to upwind urban land cover fraction
• Data sources: Rain gauge network in Belgium, hourly or daily precipitation totals

Main Results

• Decrease in precipitation frequency downwind of urban areas
• Increase in precipitation intensity during summer, convectively driven and dependent on season, time of day, and wind direction

Contributions

• Provides an innovative method for analyzing the impact of fragmented urban areas on downwind precipitation
• Highlights the added value of hourly observations over daily ones for revealing the urban impact

Funding

• Flemish Research Foundation (FWO)
• European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. [insert reference code])

Citation

@article{Jacobs2026Impact,
  author = {Jacobs, Amber and Weverberg, Kwinten Van and Caluwaerts, Steven},
  title = {Impact of fragmented urbanization on observed precipitation},
  journal = {Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1002/qj.70276},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.70276}
}