SPECIAL ISSUE: BIOMETEOROLOGICAL INSIGHTS FROM THE STUDENTS & NEW PROFESSIONALS OF THE ISB Analysis of air temperature dynamics in the “local climate zones” of Novi Sad (Serbia) based on long-term database from an urban meteorological network Dragan Milošević 1 & Stevan Savić 1 & Milena Kresoja 2 & Zorana Lužanin 3 & Ivan Šećerov 1 & Daniela Arsenović 1 & Jelena Dunjić 4 & Andreas Matzarakis 5,6 Received: 14 April 2020 /Revised: 11 November 2020 /Accepted: 20 November 2020 # ISB 2021 Abstract A comprehensive analysis of air temperature (T a ) dynamics in “local climate zones” (LCZs) of Novi Sad (Serbia) was based on measurements from 17 stations during 3 years. Hourly changes of T a , cooling rates (CR), heating rates (HR), and urban heat island (UHI) intensity were assessed on seasonal and annual level and during heat wave (HW) and cold wave (CW) periods. Substantial differences are observed for minimum (T min ) and mean temperatures (T mean ) between LCZs. Two-phase nocturnal cooling was recognized with the first cooling phase characterized by intensive LCZ dependent cooling starting at 1–3 h before sunset and lasting until 3–4 h after sunset. The second cooling phase lasts until sunrise and is characterized by less intensive and LCZ nondependent cooling. The most intensive cooling (CR peak ) was observed in first cooling phase of HW and ranged from − 1.6 °C h −1 in street canyon (LCZ 2) to − 3.9 °C h −1 in forest (LCZ A). Furthermore, a new cooling indicator (CR total ) was introduced. Due to cooling differences, the most intensive UHI of 5.5 °C was noticed between LCZs 2 and A at sunset + 1 h during HW. Two-phase diurnal heating was also recognized in LCZs with the first heating phase characterized by intensive LCZ dependent heating starting at sunrise and lasting until 4–7 h afterwards. The most intensive heating (HR peak ) ranged from 2.0 °C h −1 in street canyon to 3.0 °C h −1 in industrial area (LCZ 8) during HW. The second heating phase lasts until sunset and is characterized by less intensive heating and smaller HR differences between LCZs. Keywords Urban heat island . Cooling rate . Heating rate . Local climate zone . Urban meteorological network . Mid-sized city Introduction Climate relevant information for the development of healthy cities can be obtained from urban climate studies that belong to the rapidly growing scientific field (Stewart et al. 2014). Studying temporal and spatial dynamics of air temperature (T a ) on micro- and local scale can advance the understanding of urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon and the development of UHI mitigation strategies, thus contributing to healthy and comfortable cities. Urbanization alters land cover, land use, and energy bal- ance leading to the changes in climate of cities (Chow and Svoma 2011). UHI phenomenon is one of the most studied characteristics of urban climate (Arnfield 2003; Stewart 2011) represented by characteristic warmth of the city compared to its surroundings (ΔT urban-rural ) (Oke et al. 2017). Substantial T a differences can be registered within the city due to heteroge- neity of surface materials, building geometry, and amount of * Dragan Milošević dragan.milosevic@dgt.uns.ac.rs 1 Climatology and Hydrology Research Centre, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia 2 Institute of Economic Sciences, Zmaj Jovina 12, Belgrade 11000, Serbia 3 Department of mathematics and informatics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia 4 Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia 5 Research Centre Human Biometeorology, German Meteorological Service, Stefan-Meier-Str. 4, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany 6 Environmental Meteorology, Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Werthmann strasse 10, D-79085 Freiburg, Germany International Journal of Biometeorology https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-02058-w