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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2021

Fairfax County Urban Development: Identifying Urban Heat Mitigation Strategies for Climate Adaptation Planning in Fairfax County, Virginia

Extreme high temperatures lead to increased instances of cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, and even death, as well as increased energy consumption and infrastructure costs. People in urbanized areas experience higher temperatures than rural areas due to diminished vegetation and increased impervious surfaces which absorb and radiate heat. Fairfax County, Virginia has embarked on Resilient Fairfax, a program aimed at addressing climate adaptation and resilience. The DEVELOP team partnered with the Fairfax County Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination (OEEC) to assess the extent of the urban heat island effect on the county and its most vulnerable populations. The team used data from Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), as well as the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) for the years 2013 to 2021 and found that the hottest spots were in densely urbanized areas, with temperatures as much as 47°F above that of undeveloped reference areas. The team used the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) urban cooling model and determined that areas with higher tree canopy cover had greater heat mitigation capacity. Estimates from the InVEST model showed that a 4.5% increase in canopy cover across the county could result in a temperature reduction of up to 2.4°F in some areas. The results will allow partners to assess heat distribution across Fairfax County and implement effective mitigation strategies, including locating prime locations for cooling centers and increasing canopy cover.

W. Pierce Holloway↗
NASA NTRS2022

Milwaukee Urban Development: Assessing the Drivers of Urban Flooding Vulnerability in Milwaukee Using NASA Earth Observations

Milwaukee County has experienced an increase in flooding due to climate change and urbanization. The frequency and severity of flooding vary spatially due to differences in land cover, surface permeability, and infrastructure. Marginalized communities tend to experience disproportionately high flooding and damage due to infrastructural inequalities and limited access to resources. To quantify these differences, we used the Natural Capital Project’s Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Model to calculate and create maps of runoff retention, nominal flood depth, and economic damage to buildings in Milwaukee. Our model inputs included land cover, surface permeability, and rainfall. To inform our precipitation inputs, we used NASA’s Integrated Multi-satellite Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM IMERG) and National Weather Service (NWS) data. We assessed the relationship between flood risk and social and environmental spatial data including redlining, racial demographics, greenspace, and community resilience. The data demonstrate that flood risk is higher in historically redlined neighborhoods, majority Hispanic and Black census block groups, areas that lack parks and trees, and areas of low community resilience as measured by the Census Bureau’s Community Resilience Estimates (CRE). These findings will support our partners, Groundwork Milwaukee and Groundwork USA, in their efforts to promote the equitable distribution of resources and support environmental health in urban spaces. The end products of this project provide our partners with tools to assess urban flooding vulnerability, guide future intervention projects, quantify the effects of environmental injustice, and improve stakeholder access to data.

Madeleine Tango↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Los Angeles Urban Development Utilizing Nasa Earth Observations to Evaluate the Impact of Tree Coverage on Urban Heat Mitigation

In recent decades, Los Angeles, California has experienced an increase in summer temperatures that has intensified the urban heat island effect. The expansion of developed areas has contributed significantly to this phenomenon by trapping and reradiating heat, posing dangerous health risks to residents. To mitigate this problem, organizations including City Plants and the L.A.’s Office of City Forest Management have implemented initiatives to promote urban greening and tree planting, which help cool down vulnerable communities. In collaboration with these partners, NASA DEVELOP has undertaken a study to investigate the role of trees in urban environments and their effectiveness in reducing local urban heat islands.

Leyla Namazie↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

InVEST Urban Development: Incorporating Earth Observation Data into the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Model Python API

Urban flooding poses as one of the biggest issues for cities today, as its impacts are amplified by both climate change and urbanization. The Natural Capital Project’s Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban Flood Risk Mitigation (UFRM) model, which benefits from its simplicity and robustness, is commonly used in NASA DEVELOP projects for disaster mitigation, urban planning, and environmental justice issues. While InVEST UFRM model was able to produce the surface water runoff and retention map sufficient for the scopes of past projects, the model accuracy and spatial variability need improvement. Since the current InVEST UFRM model employs constant rainfall depth for all pixels in the area of interest (AOI), the model suffers from inaccurately estimating rainfall depth, runoff volume, and flood depth. Therefore, we adapted the model so that satellite-based precipitation raster datasets (i.e., Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Measurement [GPM IMERG]) can be used instead of a single constant value. We simulated the flood events on August 21st and August 22nd, 2017 in Wyandotte County, Kansas using both our modified and the original InVEST UFRM model and then compared the results after incorporating the rainfall raster into the model. Areas with developed land on the land use map predicted moderate to high flood volume in the original volume regardless of the actual amount of precipitation. The modified model considered the rainfall depth’s spatial variation achieving less overestimation of flood runoff and volume at low-to-moderate rainfall area.

Son Do↗
NASA NTRS2016

Participatory Climate Research in a Dynamic Urban Context: Activities of the Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN)

The Consortium for Climate Risk in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN), one of ten NOAA-RISAs, supports resilience efforts in the urban corridor stretching from Philadelphia to Boston. Challenges and opportunities include the diverse set of needs in broad urban contexts, as well as the integration of interdisciplinary perspectives. CCRUN is addressing these challenges through strategies including: 1) the development of an integrated project framework, 2) stakeholder surveys, 3) leveraging extreme weather events as focusing opportunities, and 4) a seminar series that enables scientists and stakeholders to partner. While recognizing that the most extreme weather events will always lead to surprises (even with sound planning), CCRUN endeavors to remain flexible by facilitating place-based research in an interdisciplinary context.

extreme events↗
NASA NTRS1977

Urban area delineation and detection of change along the urban-rural boundary as derived from LANDSAT digital data

LANDSAT digital multispectral scanner data, in conjunction with supporting ground truth, were investigated to determine their utility in delineation of urban-rural boundaries. The digital data for the metropolitan areas of Washington, D. C.; Austin, Texas; and Seattle, Washingtion; were processed using an interactive image processing system. Processing focused on identification of major land cover types typical of the zone of transition from urban to rural landscape, and definition of their spectral signatures. Census tract boundaries were input into the interactive image processing system along with the LANDSAT single and overlayed multiple date MSS data. Results of this investigation indicate that satellite collected information has a practical application to the problem of urban area delineation and to change detection.

Christenson, J. W.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Platte River Water Resources: Assessing Urban Flood Vulnerability to Select Restoration Sites for Urban Woods and Prairies in the Great Plains

In the Platte River Basin, wetlands provide ecosystem services such as flood mitigation and wildlife habitat. However, increasing urban development in the area has impacted natural floodplain processes, leading to a decline in wildlife habitat and an elevated flood risk for nearby communities. To address this issue, Audubon Great Plains’ Urban Woods and Prairies (UWP) Initiative focuses on restoring vital habitats within urban areas to protect bird species and reduce flood hazards. Our project used remotely sensed data, including Landsat 8 Operational Land Imagery (OLI), Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI), and Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), to assess land use and land cover from 2013 to 2023, as well as flood extent. Broad-scale analysis of the LULC showed some changes in land use patterns across the Central Platte River Basin, with the most notable being a decrease in Agricultural land coverage and an increase in Vegetation and Grassland coverage. Land use changes varied across 13 focal cities across the entire basin. In particular, developed land in Grand Island, NE, nearly tripled from 2019 to 2023, making it a good possible candidate for restoration efforts. We overlaid a flood extent map with the LULC classifications in Grand Island to identify possible restoration sites under UWP. This data will inform Audubon Great Plains in identifying potential restoration sites in key cities.

Jennifer Mathis↗
NASA NTRS2024

Bridgeport Urban Development: Leveraging NASA Earth Observations and Sociodemographic Data to Assess Urban Heat Vulnerability and Inform Cool Corridors in Bridgeport, Connecticut

Urban environments face hotter temperatures than suburban and rural areas due to higher concentrations of impervious surfaces, heat-retaining buildings, and lack of green space. Bridgeport, Connecticut, which was formerly a national manufacturing hub, is now the densest and most populous city in the state. Bridgeport experiences hotter temperatures, exposing its residents to more extreme temperatures than the surrounding affluent suburbs. Extreme heat affects the health of those exposed to it and intensifies energy demands. Understanding temperature differences is the first step in effectively directing mitigation efforts. Our partner, Groundwork Bridgeport, along with the Yale Urban Design Workshop, are planning a “cool corridors” project, implementing cooling infrastructure to combat urban heat. We used Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor and Landsat 9 Thermal Infrared Sensor-2 data to conduct a Land Surface Temperature analysis in Google Earth Engine for the county of Fairfield. A Principal Component Analysis was performed to identify indicators of social vulnerability in Bridgeport. We used the SOlar and LongWave Environmental Irradiance Geometry model to identify felt heat on the block level to inform where the partner should locate their cooling interventions to ensure they are most effective and equitable. We focused on the East Side of Bridgeport, which we found was 10 degrees hotter than other areas of Bridgeport and the neighboring town of Fairfield. We integrated our findings using Earth observations and additional sociodemographic and climate data into final communication products for our partners which will facilitate their selection of candidate locations for their Cool Corridors project.

Silas Kirsch↗
NASA NTRS2024

Hawaiʻi Urban Development: Mapping Urban Infrastructure and Linkages to Wastewater Impacts across Hawaiʻi

Coastal ecosystems and human health across the Hawaiʻian islands are under threat from cesspools and other unpermitted wastewater infrastructure. Cesspools, or home sewage systems that hold wastewater effluent in porous concrete containers underground, discharge raw, untreated sewage directly into waterways. In fact, it is estimated that approximately 88,000 cesspools release 55 million gallons of raw sewage into Hawaiʻi’s waterways each day. Our partners, The Nature Conservancy, Hawaiʻi Regional Office (TNC) and University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa (UHM), are heavily involved with the implementation and impact of Act 125, which was passed in 2017 by Hawaiʻi State Legislature to help combat these effects. This requires the conversion of cesspools to be upgraded and either converted to approved onsite disposal systems or connected to a sewer system so that the wastewater may be treated and to avoid leaching into the groundwater. Thus, identifying and locating cesspool and other unpermitted wastewater infrastructure is key to state and partner goals. Utilizing NASA Earth observations including Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), and Landsat 9 OLI-2 imagery, as well as pre-classified Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI) imagery in Esri’s Living Atlas, our team showcased the various perspectives that wastewater pollution research can use to assist in identifying and tracking urban development and concrete condition. This process was demonstrated by utilizing supervised object-based classification models, calculating various urban indices, and finding building size estimates to calculate effluent levels. Additionally, providing our partners with a GIS Methodology that can be built on to reach their future needs.

urban classification↗
NASA NTRS2000

Urban Dynamics: Analyzing Land Use Change in Urban Environments

In FY99, the Earth Resource Observation System (EROS) staff at Ames continued managing the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Urban Dynamics Research program, which has mapping and analysis activities at five USGS mapping centers. Historic land use reconstruction work continued while activities in geographic analysis and modeling were expanded. Retrospective geographic information system (GIS) development - the spatial reconstruction of a region's urban land-use history - focused on the Detroit River Corridor, California's Central Valley, and the city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Acevedo, William↗
NASA NTRS2007

Policy Document on Earth Observation for Urban Planning and Management: State of the Art and Recommendations for Application of Earth Observation in Urban Planning

A policy document on earth observation for urban planning and management resulting from a workshop held in Hong Kong in November 2006 is presented. The aim of the workshop was to provide a forum for researchers and scientists specializing in earth observation to interact with practitioners working in different aspects of city planning, in a complex and dynamic city, Hong Kong. A summary of the current state of the art, limitations, and recommendations for the use of earth observation in urban areas is presented here as a policy document.

Nichol, Janet↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Quantifying Changes in Urban Albedo with NASA Earth Observations to Reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Elevated temperatures resulting from the urban heat island (UHI) effect can have widespread impacts on human health, infrastructure, and ecosystems. These impacts can be exacerbated by changes in climate and extreme variation in regional temperature. By 2030, experts expect Cambridge, Massachusetts will experience warmer than average temperatures, more heat waves, and triple the number of abnormally warm days above 90°F per year. The NASA DEVELOP Program partnered with the City of Cambridge’s Community Development Department and the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange to inform ongoing efforts aimed at reducing the impacts of urban heat in the city of Cambridge. The team used scenes obtained from High Resolution Orthoimagery and the National Agriculture Imagery Program in conjunction with building footprint data, to calculate rooftop albedo between 2008 and 2018. Using these results, maps displaying building-specific variation in albedo across Cambridge were created. A nighttime land surface temperature (LST) record for June, July, and August between 2003 and 2019 was constructed using the Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) nighttime LST product. Lastly, temperature anomalies were calculated for Cambridge using seasonally averaged nighttime LST values obtained from Aqua MODIS to display ‘hot spots’ for summers between 2004 and 2019. The results of this project were then incorporated into an interactive ArcGIS Dashboard. This work will allow end users to explore spatial and temporal trends in albedo, nighttime LST, and temperature anomalies to assess whether the City of Cambridge is successfully reducing the effects of UHIs.

NASA DEVELOP↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Wichita Climate II: Quantifying and Mapping Urban Heat to Inform Equitable and Sustainable Urban Planning Initiatives in Wichita, Kansas

Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related event in the United States, as well as one of the least discussed. Climate change has raised the frequency, intensity, and duration of severe heat events. The built, urban environment is often hotter than neighboring rural areas due to a denser concentration of pavement, metal and other building materials absorbing and retaining heat, as well as a low amount of vegetation – creating a phenomenon commonly known as the urban heat island effect. This effect contributes to a wide range of public health issues, associated with heat strokes, dehydration, loss of work productivity, decreased learning, respiratory difficulties, and heat-related mortality. The average summer temperature in Wichita has increased 1.3 degrees (F) since 1970, and the number of days over 100 degrees (F) has historically increased, from 40 days in 1934 to 53 days in 2011.

Ritisha Ghosh↗
NASA NTRS2023

Huntsville Urban Development II: Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Map the Urban Heat Island and Evaluate Vulnerability in Huntsville, Alabama

Huntsville, Alabama has seen a boom in growth over recent years. One consequence of this urban expansion is the exacerbation of the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect across the city. This project identified the areas within Huntsville the greatest potential for heat reduction and community health benefits from tree-planting efforts. The team created maps of land surface temperature (LST), the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and the normalized difference built-up index (NDBI) over June through August from 2019 to 2022 using data from ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station, Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), Landsat 9 OLI-2 and TIRS-2. The team identified areas with high LST, low NDVI, and high NDBI as areas with the greatest potential for heat reduction via tree-planting. Social factors relating to age, race, income, and self-reported health were adapted from Tree Equity Score to map community need for tree cover. When combining social with environmental factors, the team determined areas with the greatest potential for UHI mitigation: west-central and north downtown Huntsville. The team’s partner organization, the City of Huntsville, can use this priority map to guide their future tree-planting, and weigh the factors assessed according to their preference.

James Karroum↗
NASA NTRS2019

Analysis of Interactions Between Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Operations and Conventional Traffic in Urban Areas: Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) Study for UAM Operations

This paper presents results on potential interaction effects from UAM (Urban Air Mobility) operations integrated into current operational scenarios by evaluating if/where/how Traffic alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) alerts are triggered on-board commercial aircraft. A range of operational scenarios are evaluated with combinations of UAM vehicle route, speed, altitude, and direction along the DFW (Dallas-Fort Worth) "spine route." The effect of UAM altitude uncertainty on the above is also explored. The analysis was done for both South flow and North flow configurations of DFW. When UAM operations are deterministic, no TCAS RAs (Resolution Advisories) are issued. However, UAM altitude uncertainties point out geographic areas of concern with the associated severity of interactions.

Airspace↗
NASA NTRS1969

Research and education in management of large- scale technical programs. Appendix A - Uses and misuses of computers in urban affairs. Appendix B - Build, a community development simulation game. Appendix C - Urban simulation and gaming, preliminary experience and perspectives. Appendix D - Public attitudes toward programs of large- scale technological change, some reflections and policy prescriptions Semiannual progress report

Research and education in management of large scale technical programs - computers in urban affairs

Orlando, J. A.↗