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Cities are major drivers of environmental change at all scales and are especially at risk from the ensuing effects, which include poor air quality, flooding and heat waves. Typically, these issues are studied on a city-by-city basis owing to the spatial complexity of built landscapes, local topography and emission patterns. However, to ensure knowledge sharing and to integrate local-scale processes with regional and global scale modelling initiatives, there is a pressing need for a world-wide database on cities that is suited for environmental studies. In this paper we present a European database that has a particular focus on characterising urbanised landscapes. It has been derived using tools and techniques developed as part of the World Urban Database and Access Portal Tools (WUDAPT) project, which has the goal of acquiring and disseminating climate-relevant information on cities worldwide. The European map is the first major step toward creating a global database on cities that can be integrated with existing topographic and natural land-cover databases to support modelling initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays there is an increase of imported natural building stones, often used as replacement of local, more traditional building stones. The durability of these traditional stones is generally well known; however, when new imported materials are used, it is essential to study their behaviour under the current and local climatological conditions to predict their weathering resistance. In addition to water exposure, these building materials have to be resistant to significant mechanical stress created by the imbibition of de-icing salt solutions, frequently used during winter in Western Europe, with temperature periodically changing from freeze to thaw conditions. Porous network modifications related to the materials’ chemical composition are very complex when different forces are acting on the stone itself. Therefore it is crucial to determine the internal structure of the building stone under changing external conditions with and without the presence of de-icing salts, to understand the influence of these additional salts. In this paper, particular attention was paid to the multi-characterization of compact Kandla Grey laminated sandstone, a building stone frequently imported from India to Belgium recently. Traditional as well as highly advanced research techniques were used for the characterization and monitoring of changes under different external conditions. This study demonstrates that the structural characteristics of the laminations have an effect on the frost resistance of the stone and its response to salt weathering. From the experiments carried out, it can be concluded that Kandla Grey can be sensitive to frost and salt weathering under the current climatic conditions in Western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nephropathia epidemica (NE) is a human infection caused by Puumala virus (PUUV), which is naturally carried and shed by bank voles (Myodes glareolus). Population dynamics and infectious diseases in general, such as NE, have often been modelled with mechanistic SIR (Susceptible, Infective and Remove with immunity) models. Precipitation and temperature have been found to be indicators of NE, however most SIR models do not take them into account. The objective of this paper was to develop a dynamic model of incidences of NE in Belgium by taking into account climatological data. A multiple–input, single-output (MISO) transfer function was used to model the incidence of NE. In a first step, the NE cases were modelled based on data from 1996 until 2003 with an of 0.68. In the next step the MISO model was validated for incidences of NE in Belgium from 2003 to 2008 ( of 0.54). The output of the MISO models was the number of NE cases in Belgium over the time period 1996 until 2008 and the inputs were average measured monthly precipitation (mm), and temperature (°C) as well as estimated carrying capacity (vole ha−1). The monthly values of carrying capacity (K) were estimated for the whole period by using an existing mechanistic SIR model. K is related to the variation in seed production in Northern Europe, which has an effect on the population of bank voles. In the future, such modelling approaches may be used to predict and monitor forthcoming NE cases based on climate and vegetation data as a tool for prevention of NE cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the future state of river water in view of actual pollution loading or different management options, water quality models are a useful tool. However, the uncertainty on the model predictions is sometimes too high to draw proper conclusions. Because of the complexity of process based river water quality models, it is best to investigate this problem according to the origin of the uncertainty. If the uncertainty stems from input data or parameter uncertainty, more reliable results are obtained by performing specific measurement campaigns. The aim of the research reported in this paper is to guide these measurement campaigns based on an uncertainty analysis. The practical case study is the river Dender in Flanders, Belgium. First an overview of different techniques that give valuable information for the reduction of input and parameter uncertainty is given. A global sensitivity analysis shows the importance of the different uncertainty sources. Further an analysis of the uncertainty bands is performed to find differences in uncertainty between certain periods or locations. This shows that the link between periods with high uncertainty and specific circumstances (climatological, eco-regional, etc.) can help in gathering data for the calibration of submodels (e.g. diffuse pollution vs. point pollution). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A Devonian magnetic susceptibility (MS) record obtained on limestones ranging from the Uppermost-Eifelian to the Lower-Givetian and located on the southern border of the Dinant Synclinorium in Belgium was selected for timeseries analysis. In these carbonate ramp and platform deposits, spectral analyses highlight persistent, high-frequency cycles in both the MS-signal and the microfacies curve, reflecting environmental and climate changes. These metrescale variations in the MS-signal are interpreted as changes in the flux of magnetic minerals towards the marine system, most likely controlled by monsoon rainfall-intensity. By combining chrono- and biostratigraphic information with theoretical knowledge of sedimentation rates in different depositional environments, these cycles are interpreted as astronomically driven and dominated by precession. It is hypothesized that during precession minima (longitude of the perihelion ≈270°) the trans-equatorial pressure gradient reaches a maximum and intensifies the northeasterly monsoonal circulation. The consequent increase in moisture transport towards the continent leads to enhanced precipitation and runoff, which, in turn, induces a higher flux of detrital material - including magnetic minerals responsible for the MS-signal - towards the marine system. Moreover, this unique high-resolution climate signal reveals halfprecessional cycles. These cycles suggest that during precession maxima (longitude of the perihelion ≈90°) southeasterly monsoonal circulation strengthened due to an increased inter-hemispheric pressure gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 700-year time series of ice winter severity index (referred to as Ice Index in this contribution) which additionally includes the period from 1301 to 1500 is now available for the region of the western Baltic. It is compared with air temperature time series, NAO, and other relevant indices. As expected for a regional time series, agreement with larger-scale northern hemisphere temperature variations is found only on longer time scales. Very good correspondence, even on shorter time scales, is obtained using a geographically close time series of annual mean air temperatures for the Low Countries (The Netherlands and Belgium). Although the data basis for the additionally included 1301-1500 period is quite sparse, there is also very good correspondence in this period. Correlation with the NAO Winter Index is generally negative, but the correlation is not significant for earlier periods. Copyright © 2011 Royal Meteorological Society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine climate model estimations for the future climate over central Belgium. Our analysis is focused mainly on two variables: potential evapotranspiration (PET) and precipitation. PET is calculated using the Penman equation with parameters appropriately calibrated for Belgium, based on RCM data from the European project PRUDENCE database. Next, we proceed into estimating the model capacity to reproduce the reference climate for PET and precipitation. The same analysis for precipitation is also performed based on GCM data from the IPCC AR4 database. Then, the climate change signal is evaluated over central Belgium using RCM and GCM simulations based on several SRES scenarios. The RCM simulations show a clear shift in the precipitation pattern with an increase during winter and a decrease during summer. However, the inclusion of another set of SRES scenarios from the GCM simulations leads to a less clear climate change signal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]