Explore & Learn
Understand how ClimateReady works, explore climate risk frameworks, examine spatial indicators, and turn environmental data into informed local action.
1. How to Use ClimateReady
From selecting a location to identifying possible solutions — follow these six sequential steps to conduct your local risk assessment.
Select your location
Choose a supported geographic area to begin your assessment. ClimateReady uses the selected region as the boundary for its spatial analysis.
Choose an environmental risk
Explore one of the three tailored assessment modules:
Explore the risk map
View the interactive map to identify areas classified as Very Low, Low, Moderate, High or Very High risk. Zoom in to compare how risk varies across different parts of your selected region.
Understand what drives the risk
Explore the underlying indicators to understand which environmental conditions (such as low vegetation, steep slopes, or high impervious cover) may be contributing to the mapped risk patterns.
Explore recommended actions
Review tailored recommendations associated with the identified risk patterns to discover possible actions for individuals, communities and local authorities.
Generate your Climate Resilience Report
Generate a clean, printable PDF report bringing together the assessment results, maps and recommendations in an easily shareable format for decision-makers.
2. Understanding Climate Risk
ClimateReady's approach draws on the conceptual framework used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to understand climate-related risk.
In the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report framework, climate risk arises from the interaction of hazard, exposure and vulnerability. These concepts help explain why the same environmental event can have different consequences in different places.
Hazard
Exposure
Vulnerability
Risk
How does ClimateReady apply these concepts?
ClimateReady uses spatial environmental indicators to assess and map relative risk patterns across a selected region for urban heat, waterlogging and air-pollution exposure. The indicators help characterise the environmental conditions associated with risk. The resulting maps allow users to compare locations, investigate the factors behind their scores and explore possible actions.
An Important Distinction
The IPCC framework provides the conceptual foundation for understanding risk. A map generated from a selected set of indicators is an operational assessment of risk under ClimateReady's methodology; it is not automatically a complete quantification of all hazard, exposure and vulnerability components described by the IPCC. The scope of each map depends on the data and calculations actually used in that module.
3. How ClimateReady Works
ClimateReady transforms environmental and geographic datasets into spatial risk assessments to help users identify priority areas and explore possible actions.
The Assessment Workflow Pipeline
Automated Earth Engine PipelineData relevant to each risk module are processed and combined according to the implemented assessment methodology. The resulting maps show how risk scores vary across the selected region, while the underlying indicators help users understand the environmental conditions associated with those patterns.
Designed for accessibility: ClimateReady makes spatial climate intelligence accessible to urban planners, local authorities, and community leaders without requiring specialist knowledge of GIS or climate science.
4. Explore the Three Assessment Modules
Click any of the three assessment modules below to expand its full assessment scope, complete indicator breakdowns, vulnerability score explanations, and actionable interventions. (All closed by default).
What are we assessing?
Urban Heat Island (UHI) describes the tendency for urban areas to be warmer than surrounding less-developed areas, often because of built surfaces, reduced vegetation and changes in how heat is absorbed, stored and released.
ClimateReady examines environmental characteristics associated with urban surface heating to identify areas that may be more susceptible to heat-related conditions.
Indicators Used
Land Surface Temperature
LSTLST estimates the temperature of the land surface as observed by a satellite. It helps identify areas where the ground, roofs and other visible surfaces are relatively hot.
Vegetation Index
NDVINDVI is a satellite-derived index used to estimate the presence and relative greenness of vegetation. Areas with healthy vegetation benefit from shade and evaporative cooling.
Built-up Index
NDBINDBI is a satellite-derived index used to help distinguish built-up surfaces from other land-cover types. Higher built-up signals indicate extensive construction and impervious surfaces influencing heat storage.
Land Use & Land Cover
LULCLULC describes the types of surfaces present in an area, such as built-up land, vegetation, water and bare ground. Different surface types absorb, reflect and store heat differently.
Albedo
ReflectivityAlbedo describes the proportion of incoming solar radiation reflected by a surface. A surface with higher albedo reflects more incoming sunlight, while lower-albedo surfaces absorb more.
What might a higher vulnerability score indicate?
Depending on the implemented indicators and their weights, a higher score may be associated with relatively high surface temperatures, extensive built-up surfaces or limited vegetation.
What actions might help?
Potential measures include increasing tree cover where suitable, improving shade along walking routes, protecting existing green spaces, introducing appropriate cool-surface treatments and incorporating heat-sensitive design into urban planning. Note: A vulnerability score alone does not establish which intervention delivers the greatest cooling benefit.
What are we assessing?
Waterlogging occurs when water accumulates on land or streets because water cannot drain away or infiltrate quickly enough.
Its occurrence depends on several interacting conditions, including rainfall, terrain, surface permeability, drainage capacity and the surrounding landscape. ClimateReady examines selected environmental and geographic characteristics that may influence susceptibility to water accumulation.
Indicators Used
Digital Elevation Model
DEMA DEM represents the elevation of the land surface. Elevation helps identify relatively low-lying areas where water may collect.
Slope
TerrainSlope measures how steeply the land rises or falls. Gentle slopes and depressions favour water accumulation, while steeper terrain encourages runoff to move more quickly.
Rainfall
PrecipitationRainfall describes the amount of precipitation received. Heavy or prolonged rainfall increases the volume of water that must be absorbed, stored or drained.
Impervious Surface
RunoffImpervious surfaces (concrete, asphalt, paved roads) limit the infiltration of rainwater into the ground, drastically increasing surface runoff volume.
Distance to Water Bodies
HydrologyMeasures how far a location is from mapped rivers, lakes, wetlands or coastline to provide geographic hydrological context.
Distance to Drainage
InfrastructureDescribes the spatial relationship between an area and mapped stormwater drainage infrastructure.
Soil Type
InfiltrationSoil characteristics influence how quickly water can infiltrate and percolate through the ground into the aquifer.
Vegetation Index
NDVIVegetation can intercept rainfall, support soil infiltration and slow surface runoff velocities under suitable conditions.
Land Use & Land Cover
LULCCharacterises built-up areas, tree cover, water, and open ground to evaluate land conversion impacts on runoff.
What might a higher vulnerability score indicate?
A higher score may reflect a combination of conditions associated with water accumulation, such as low-lying terrain, limited infiltration, extensive impervious surfaces or particular drainage relationships.
What actions might help?
Potential measures include maintaining drains, clearing blocked inlets, improving local stormwater infrastructure, preserving permeable surfaces, restoring suitable green spaces and using rain gardens or nature-based drainage measures where feasible. Note: Some locations require structural drainage engineering rather than surface interventions alone.
What are we assessing?
Air pollution is the presence of harmful substances in the air. People's exposure depends on pollutant concentrations, how long they spend in affected places, their activities and other factors.
ClimateReady's air-pollution module examines selected environmental and built-up characteristics associated with susceptibility to pollution exposure or pollutant accumulation. Important: This module does not necessarily measure actual pollutant concentrations. Its vulnerability score should not be interpreted as an Air Quality Index (AQI), a PM2.5 concentration reading or a direct estimate of an individual's health risk.
Indicators Used
Road Density
TrafficRoad density describes the concentration of roads within an area, highlighting zones with greater potential exposure to vehicular tailpipe emissions.
Land Surface Temperature
LSTMeasures surface heat to characterise the local microclimate and boundary layer conditions.
Built-up Intensity
NDBIBuilt form can influence urban ventilation, airflow friction and pollutant trapping in street canyons.
Wind Speed
VentilationWind influences the transport, dilution and dispersion of air pollutants across an urban basin.
Vegetation Index
NDVIVegetation may influence local environments through particulate deposition, shading and changes in airflow patterns.
What might a higher vulnerability score indicate?
A higher score may indicate a combination of environmental characteristics associated with potential susceptibility to pollution exposure or accumulation, according to the scoring framework. It does not confirm that pollutant concentrations are higher at that exact location.
What actions might help?
Potential measures include reducing unnecessary vehicle idling, supporting cleaner transport, improving traffic management, protecting suitable green buffers and conducting air-quality monitoring near potentially exposed communities. Note: Transport planning and emission standards require action by public authorities.
5. Understanding Your Vulnerability Map
ClimateReady groups the resulting assessment scores into five classes to make spatial patterns easier to interpret.
Very Low
The area falls within the lowest assessment class. Its score reflects relatively lower contributions from the indicators in the implemented framework.
Low
The area falls within a relatively low assessment class. It may still contain local issues that are not captured by the available data.
Moderate
The area falls within the middle assessment class and may warrant closer examination of its environmental characteristics.
High
The area falls within a higher assessment class and may deserve priority for further investigation or suitable interventions.
Very High
The area falls within the highest assessment class and may warrant particular attention when setting priorities for follow-up assessment and action.
What do the classes actually mean?
These categories describe the assessment score—not a universal probability of an event, a measured amount of harm or an official warning level.
A Very High score does not necessarily mean that an event will occur, and a Very Low score does not mean that an area is completely safe. The classification method and score thresholds determine how the classes should be interpreted. When classes are generated using relative thresholds, a location's class may also depend on the other locations included in the assessment.
Why explore the individual indicator maps?
The composite map summarises multiple indicators into one view. Individual indicator maps help you understand the environmental patterns contributing to that summary.
For example, a location with a high heat-vulnerability score may also have high surface temperatures and limited vegetation. Examining these layers separately helps users interpret the score rather than treating it as an unexplained number. However, the composite score and its indicators should be interpreted within the assumptions of the assessment framework.
6. From Vulnerability to Recommendations
Identifying vulnerable areas is only the first step. The next is to explore what could be done. ClimateReady connects the assessment to recommendations intended to help users consider appropriate responses to the environmental conditions identified in the selected region.
Individual Level
Actions that people can take in their daily routines or immediate surroundings, where appropriate — such as maintaining domestic cool roofs, installing rainwater barrels, or timing outdoor travel during low-pollution windows.
Community Level
Measures that residents, housing societies, community groups or local organisations may be able to coordinate — such as neighborhood tree planting, permeable courtyard paving, community shade networks, and drain-cleaning drives.
Municipal & Planning Level
Actions that may require public authorities, infrastructure investment, technical assessment or changes in planning and maintenance — including arterial drain expansion, urban zoning, green corridors, and public transit decarbonisation.
Why level of action matters: Not every environmental problem can be solved by individuals. A drainage bottleneck may require engineering and maintenance, while a neighbourhood with inadequate shade may benefit from community planting as well as public-space planning. Recommendations are intended to guide further consideration. Their feasibility, costs and expected benefits depend on local circumstances and should be assessed before implementation.
7. Data, Reliability and Validation
ClimateReady depends on the quality, spatial resolution, time period and coverage of the underlying datasets.
Satellite observations, terrain data, rainfall records, road networks and other geographic datasets provide different types of information. They do not all measure the same phenomenon or represent conditions at the same spatial and temporal resolution.
To make the assessment more consistent, the framework prepares and standardises indicators before combining them. Where applicable, methodological checks can examine the consistency of weighting decisions, the sensitivity of results to changes in assumptions and the agreement between mapped patterns and independent observations.
Consistency Checks
Are the weighting decisions internally consistent? Verifies multi-criteria weight distributions and normalisation bounds across environmental layers.
Sensitivity Assessment
Do the results change substantially when indicator weights or assumptions change? Ensures composite risk scores are robust and not overly fragile to minor weight alterations.
Independent Cross-Checking
Are the mapped patterns broadly consistent with reliable local observations or external datasets? Ground-truth comparison where local records exist.
Validation Caveat: A mathematically consistent weighting scheme does not automatically prove that a vulnerability map is accurate. Independent validation requires suitable reference data, and its strength depends on the quality and coverage of that data. Details of validation should be reported only where the relevant checks have actually been performed.
8. Limitations of ClimateReady
ClimateReady is designed as a screening and decision-support platform. It is not intended to replace detailed scientific studies, official warnings, field surveys or professional engineering assessments.
1. Indicator-based assessment
The maps are derived from selected indicators and the assumptions used to combine them. They represent the conditions captured by the framework, not every factor that can influence environmental risk.
2. Data availability & quality
Some datasets may contain missing values, incomplete geographic coverage or differences in resolution and observation period. These limitations can affect the resulting spatial patterns.
3. Spatial resolution
The apparent detail of a map does not guarantee that every street, building or individual property has been assessed accurately. A map cell or mapped area may not capture small-scale conditions on the ground.
4. Temporal variability
Environmental conditions change over time. Satellite observations, rainfall records, wind data and land-cover datasets may represent different periods. The maps should not be assumed to describe current conditions unless the underlying data and update schedule support that interpretation.
5. Relative scores, not universal thresholds
The five classes are categories within the implemented assessment framework. They are not necessarily official risk thresholds and should not be interpreted as precise probabilities of harm.
6. Vulnerability ≠ measured hazard
A vulnerability assessment does not necessarily measure actual event frequency, pollutant concentrations, flood depth, human exposure or health outcomes. These require suitable additional data and methods.
7. Recommendations require local judgement
A recommendation that is appropriate for one neighbourhood may not be suitable for another. Feasibility, cost, local infrastructure, community needs and environmental impacts should be considered before implementing an intervention.
8. No guarantee of safety or prediction
ClimateReady cannot guarantee that a location is safe, predict exactly when an event will occur or establish the sole cause of a particular environmental problem.
Use ClimateReady as a starting point
ClimateReady helps users identify patterns, understand environmental indicators and explore possible actions. Its results are most useful when combined with local knowledge, field observations, reliable monitoring data and expert assessment where needed.
The goal is not to replace local expertise, but to make environmental information easier to understand and use in decisions.
Make Informed Local Climate Decisions
Explore your selected region, understand the environmental conditions associated with vulnerability, and use the results as a starting point for informed local action.
ClimateReady — From environmental data to local understanding and action.