Using machine learning to produce a cost-effective national building height map of Ireland to categorise local climate zones

ECOCLIMAP-Second Generation (ECO-SG) is the land-cover map used in the HARMONIE-AROME configuration of the shared ALADIN-HIRLAM Numerical Weather Prediction system used for short-range operational weather forecasting for Ireland. The ECO-SG urban classification implicitly includes building heights. The work presented in this paper involved the production of the first open-access building height map for the island of Ireland which complements the Ulmas-Walsh land cover map, a map which has improved the horizontal extent of urban areas over Ireland. The resulting building height map will potentially enable upgrades to ECO-SG urban information for future implementation in HARMONIE-AROME.