Professor Leena Järvi, Professor in Urban Meteorology at University of Helsinki, has been selected as the recipient of the 5th Sergej Zilitinkevich Memorial Award for her outstanding contributions to urban boundary-layer meteorology.
Leena Järvi (PhD) is a Professor in Urban Meteorology and Vice Director of the Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) & Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS) at the Faculty of Science of University of Helsinki in Finland.
… She is internationally recognized for her pioneering research on …
Award Lecture:
Turbulence in Cities – From Microscale Ventilation to Urban Boundary Layer Structures
In the award lecture Leena Järvi will address how the structure and dynamics of the urban boundary layer are critical for a wide range of applications, from urban air quality to urban heat mitigation. Despite significant progress in the field, substantial uncertainties remain regarding how the urban boundary layer responds to surface forcing, how these responses influence ventilation across different spatial scales, and how such processes can best be represented in numerical models. Recent advances in computational fluid dynamics have enabled researchers to investigate the urban boundary layer and its structure in unprecedented detail.
The award will be presented to Leena during the at EMS Annual Meeting 2026 in Utrecht, The Netherlands 6 – 11 September 2026. The award lecture and award ceremony are scheduled as part of the session on Cities and urban areas in the earth-atmosphere system on Monday 7 September 2026.
About Leen Järvi
Leena Järvi’s work highlights how large-eddy simulation modelling can provide comprehensive insights into urban boundary-layer processes at both local and city scales, while also demonstrating practical applications in urban planning and the design of urban atmospheric measurements.
She has authored 94 peer-reviewed publications and is the principal developer of the SUEWS model. She has also led the Strategic Research Council project CO-CARBON, which promotes the effective use of scientific knowledge in society. The project produced a policy brief for cities on carbon-smart urban green infrastructure as a climate solution, authored by Hautamäki R., Järvi L., Ariluoma M., Kinnunen A., Kulmala L., Lampinen J., Merikoski T., and Tahvonen O. In addition, Professor Järvi has led several collaborative studies with city representatives, focusing on carbon-smart solutions and examining the impacts of trees and urban building layouts on air pollution in real urban environments.
About the Sergej Zilitinkevich Memorial Award
The Sergej Zilitinkevich Memorial Award is an international honor granted annually to a creative and influential scientist who has made significant breakthroughs in atmospheric or oceanic boundary-layer research. The award is supported by a distinguished group of institutions, including the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), European Meteorological Society (EMS), Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center (ACCC), Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR), Finnish Network for Atmospheric Sciences, Finnish Geophysical Society, and the Finnish Foundation for Aerosol Research. More on Sergej Zilitinkevich Memorial Award at https://www.acccflagship.fi/?s=Zilitinkevich