scope:

This guideline is intended to enable climate experts, regional- and town planners to estimate the necessary steps for the production, dynamics and impact of local cold air in a corresponding consideration process in an objective manner. Therewith, a manual should be given prior to the commencement of planning proceedings which presents the basic investigation steps in a summarised form and which also gives guidance to the relevant laws and regulations (e.g. consideration of the phenomenon „local cold air" at installation authorisation according to BImSchG [G1]). The text of the guideline is structured as follows:

Following a brief consideration of the relevant acts, regulations and technical rules on this subject matter as well as an explanation of the most important terms in this context, the meteorological and topographic conditions for cold air production (Section 2) are presented based on the importance of local cold air for planning proceedings (see Section 1). In addition, cold air productivity over differently used surfaces as well as the influence of changes of pattern of land use are discussed. Conditions for cold air drainage, thereby appearing effective forces as well as the interference with effects of cold air dynamics through natural or artificial obstacles are subject matter of Section 3. Effects of air pollution control as well as the influence of cold air on the human-bio-meteorological influence factors are described in Section 4. This section describes further the effects of local cold air on plants, roads and settlements. Ensuring and promoting planning relevant cold air production and cold air drainage are treated in Section 5 - under integration of numerous examples. Recommendations for the investigation scope follow thereafter (Section 6), whereby individual methodical steps such as evaluation of terrain inspections, study of map material, realisation of measurements in terrain, employment of numerical model analyses are described in an exemplary manner. The guideline concludes with a statement on the current research requirements with regard to cold air production, cold air drainage as well as an assessment of the phenomenon cold air (Section 7). Whilst Annex A is dedicated to the methodology of numerical models, Annex B deals with the modelling of local cold air by means of physical models.