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At least 19 records

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NASA NTRS2021

Sacramento Urban Development: Quantifying and Mapping Urban Heat to Inform Urban Planning Initiatives in Sacramento, California

The combined effects of increasing urbanization and changing climatic conditions have exacerbated the urban heat island (UHI) effect and heat-related risks for city dwellers. Vulnerability to heat-related illnesses is further compounded by risk factors such as demographics, socioeconomic status, and pre-existing health conditions. The City of Sacramento, as California’s fastest-growing city by population, is particularly invested in combatting the UHI effect. The team collaborated with the City of Sacramento and urban planning firm, Dyett and Bhatia, on three main goals: assessing urban heat at the neighborhood scale, identifying priority areas for cooling interventions, and assessing heat risk to the population. This project utilized NASA Earth observation products to identify hotspots within the communities of Sacramento and create maps of urban heat, the heat-mitigation index, and heat risk from 2016-2020. The team used the Surface Reflectance product from Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) and the ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) thermal infrared sensor. Additionally, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) urban cooling model was used to assess the impact of increased tree canopy scenarios. Urban hotspots were identified in central Sacramento and along major transportation corridors such as Stockton Boulevard, while the highest risk areas were identified in the communities of Fruitridge/Broadway and North Sacramento. This project identified these high-opportunity areas for heat mitigation to inform the City of Sacramento's General Plan and reduce citizen risk by addressing urban heat islands.

DEVELOP Project Summary↗

NASA NTRS2021

Sacramento Urban Development: Quantifying and Mapping Urban Heat to Support Urban Planning Initiatives in Sacramento, California

The combined effects of increasing urbanization and climate change have exacerbated the urban heat island (UHI) effect and heat-related risks for city dwellers. Vulnerability to heat-related illnesses is further compounded by risk factors such as demographics, socioeconomic status, and pre-existing health conditions. The City of Sacramento, as California’s fastest growing city in terms of population, is particularly invested in combatting the UHI effect. The team collaborated with the City of Sacramento and urban planning firm, Dyett and Bhatia, on three main goals: assessing urban heat at the neighborhood scale; identifying priority areas for cooling interventions; and assessing heat risk to the population. This project utilized NASA Earth observation products to identify hotspots within the community areas of Sacramento and create maps of urban heat, the heat-mitigation index, and heat risk of the study period from 2016-2020. The Surface Reflectance product were used from Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) and ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) thermal infrared sensor. Additionally, the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban cooling model was used to assess the impact of increased tree canopy scenarios. Urban hotspots were identified in central Sacramento and along major transportation corridors such as Stockton Boulevard, while highest risk areas were identified in the community areas of Fruitridge/Broadway and North Sacramento. This project identified these high-opportunity areas for heat mitigation to inform the City of Sacramento's General Plan. This will inform the partners’ plans to reduce citizen risk by addressing urban heat islands.

Karina Alvarez↗

NASA NTRS2020

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

The urban heat island (UHI) effect occurs when urban areas have temperatures that are warmer on average than the surrounding suburban and rural regions. Low albedo surfaces traditionally found in urban landscapes, such as dark asphalt and rooftops, absorb solar irradiance and reemit heat, which contributes to the UHI effect. Cambridge,Massachusetts,part of the Boston metropolitan area,expects severe impacts on human health,infrastructure, and local environmental features due to increasing urban heat. The Massachusetts – Boston NASA DEVELOP team partnered with the City of Cambridge Community Development Department and the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange to inform ongoing planning and heat mitigation efforts. High Resolution Orthoimagery (HRO) and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) scenes were analyzed in conjunction with ancillary datasets to assess changes in rooftop albedo between 2008 and 2018. Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data were used to determine nighttime land surface temperature (LST) between 2003 and 2019. Lastly, temperature anomalies were calculated using seasonally averaged nighttime LST values obtained from Aqua MODIS to display ‘hot spots’ for summers between 2004 and 2019. On average, albedo increased by 0.12 across the city, with the majority of positive change in commercial areas. Analysis of mean summer nighttime LST between 2003 and 2019 revealed a non-significant increase in temperature, although temperature anomaly maps demonstrated that Cambridge was warmer on average than rural areas. These results were incorporated in the interactive Cambridge Urban Heat Dashboard, which allows users to explore temporal trends in albedo.

Nicole Ramberg-Pihl↗

NASA NTRS2020

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

The urban heat island (UHI) effect occurs when urban areas have temperatures that are warmer on average than the surrounding suburban and rural regions. Low albedo surfaces traditionally found in urban landscapes, such as dark asphalt and rooftops, absorb solar irradiance and reemit heat, which contributes to the UHI effect. Cambridge, Massachusetts, part of the Boston metropolitan area, expects severe impacts on human health, infrastructure, and local environmental features due to increasing urban heat. The Massachusetts – Boston NASA DEVELOP team partnered with the City of Cambridge Community Development Department and the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange to inform ongoing planning and heat mitigation efforts. High Resolution Orthoimagery (HRO) and National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) scenes were analyzed in conjunction with ancillary datasets to assess changes in rooftop albedo between 2008 and 2018. Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data were used to determine nighttime land surface temperature (LST) between 2003 and 2019. Lastly, temperature anomalies were calculated using seasonally averaged nighttime LST values obtained from Aqua MODIS to display ‘hot spots’ for summers between 2004 and 2019. On average, albedo increased by 0.12 across the city, with the majority of positive change in commercial areas. Analysis of mean summer nighttime LST between 2003 and 2019 revealed a non-significant increase in temperature, although temperature anomaly maps demonstrated that Cambridge was warmer on average than rural areas. These results were incorporated in the interactive Cambridge Urban Heat Dashboard, which allows users to explore temporal trends in albedo.

Nicole Ramberg-Pihl↗

NASA NTRS2020

Huntsville Urban Development: Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Evaluate Urban Tree Canopy and Land Surface Temperature for Green Infrastructure Development and Urban Heat Mitigation in Huntsville, AL

Huntsville, Alabama’s population has grown by approximately 11% since 2010, due in part to the city’s advancing engineering industry. Rapid urban growth negatively impacts the environment by decreasing tree canopy cover and increasing impervious surface cover, which can intensify the urban heat island effect. To examine the impacts of this urban growth on the environment, the team partnered with the City of Huntsville to utilize Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the International Space Station’s Global Ecosystems Dynamic Investigation (GEDI) and ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS). The team utilized these Earth observations in combination with ancillary datasets to create a suite of end products to assist in mitigating the effects of extreme heat due to urban expansion and tree canopy loss. Annual land surface temperature (LST) was calculated and land cover classes were derived through supervised and threshold classification methods to distinguish trees, other vegetation types, impervious surfaces, and water. From 2010 to 2019, LST increased approximately 4 °F for all census tracts within the city and the total amount of tree cover increased by approximately 3%. The findings will aid the city in future decision-making processes by indicating areas that would benefit from increased green infrastructure.

Greta Paris↗

NASA NTRS2020

Huntsville Urban Development: Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Evaluate Urban Tree Canopy and Land Surface Temperature for Green Infrastructure Development and Urban Heat Mitigation in Huntsville, Alabama

Greta Paris↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Milwaukee Urban Development: Assessing the Drivers of Urban Flood Vulnerability in Milwaukee using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs Urban Flood Risk Mitigation Model (InVEST)

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 NTRS2021

San Diego Urban Development: Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Identify Drivers of Extreme Urban Heat and Generate a High-Resolution Vulnerability Index for Urban Planning and Climate Resiliency in San Diego, California

Exposure to heat exacerbated by an increase in urbanization as well as increasing global temperatures has become a growing concern for cities and their residents. Excess heat can cause increased heat-related morbidity, mortality, and energy costs. Vulnerability to heat-related illnesses is oftentimes correlated to demographics, socioeconomic status, and pre-existing health conditions. The City of San Diego, California boasts 1.4 million residents and, like many other major cities, has experienced increases in heat-related hospitalizations and mortality. The burden of urban heat is also not equal amongst communities; areas with lower income and communities of color bear a disproportionate burden. In partnership with the City of San Diego, and American Geophysical Union’s (AGU) Thriving Earth Exchange, the DEVELOP team used Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), and ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) imagery to identify areas of highest heat based on land surface temperature from 2015-2020. Our analyses showed that health demographics such as obesity and cardiovascular health were the strongest indicators for heat vulnerability. In addition, various inputs (land use/land cover, tree canopy, and building intensity derived from the City of San Diego data along with albedo from Landsat 8) were used in the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) urban cooling model to investigate changes in cooling rates in current and future scenarios for the city. The model results showed that cooling is expected to occur due to a 5% increase in tree canopy. The City of San Diego can use these results to inform the development of the Climate Resilient San Diego plan and prioritize at-risk communities for cooling interventions.

John Dialesandro↗

NASA NTRS2022

Albuquerque Urban Development: Enhancing Urban Cooling Interventions by Modeling Urban Forestry through NASA Earth Observations in Albuquerque, New Mexico

The City of Albuquerque, New Mexico is experiencing increasing urban heat island(UHI) effects, which impact the health, safety, and comfort of the community. In partnership with the City of Albuquerque Department of Environmental Health, Department of Parks and Recreation, and Let’s Plant Albuquerque!, this project used satellite Earth observations from April 2016–August 2022 to model increases in tree canopy within the City of Albuquerque to help combat the urban heat island in the city’s warmer areas over the next decade. Using Landsat 8’s Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) and the Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on the International Space Station (ECOSTRESS), along with the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) Urban Cooling and ENVI-Met models, the team modeled tree cover interventions and created land surface temperature maps. These outputs will help the city make data-driven decisions for their tree planting goal in a targeted approach.

Max Stewart↗

NASA NTRS2021

Yonkers Urban Development: Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Identify Environmental and Social Drivers of Urban Heat Vulnerability and Model Urban Cooling Interventions in Yonkers, New York

The City of Yonkers, New York, is located directly north of the Bronx in Westchester County and currently hosts a population of nearly 200,000. In response to increasing hot-weather episodes, the risk of heat-related illnesses and mortality is disproportionately affecting neighborhoods in Yonkers historically subjected to race-based housing segregation. NASA DEVELOP collaborated with Groundwork Hudson Valley to determine regions within Yonkers that are experiencing the most intense urban heat island effects, identify and rank sociodemographic and environmental determinants of increasing community-level vulnerability, map these vulnerabilities as a combined vulnerability index, complete a proximity analysis of walkability to local cooling centers and health facility locations, and model potential cooling strategies. The study area consisted of Yonkers, NY and the analyses used data from 2015-2020 (June through August). The project utilized NASA Earth observation products including Landsat 4 and 5 Thematic Mapper (TM), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI) and Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), Terra Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), and ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS). We assessed the benefits of different heat-mitigation scenarios by utilizing the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) urban cooling model. Results from these analyses can be used by Groundwork Hudson Valley, supporting the New York State’s Climate Safe Communities Certifiable Planning Actions, expanding knowledge on the relationship between historic redlining and environmental equity, and informing their Climate Safe Neighborhoods initiative to identify and prioritize mitigation efforts to abate the worst impacts of extreme heat.

Jillian Walechka↗

NASA NTRS2022

Yonkers Urban Development II: Leveraging NASA Earth Observations to Support Modeling Urban Cooling Interventions and Urban Heat Vulnerability in Yonkers, New York

The City of Yonkers, New York, located in Westchester County, is experiencing rising temperatures which are a growing threat to the health and safety of its residents. Furthermore, the risk of heat-related illnesses and mortality disproportionately affects neighborhoods in Yonkers historically subjected to race-based housing segregation. To better understand these inequities, Groundwork Hudson Valley and NASA DEVELOP collaborated for a second term to evaluate community-level heat vulnerability, landcover distribution, street-level thermal comfort, and modeled urban cooling interventions. This team applied 2019 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) data and social and biophysical heat vulnerability variables established by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), along with land surface temperature (LST) data collected from Landsat 8 Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), and ISS ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) to identify communities in Yonkers in need of prioritized cooling intervention at the census tract level. Data from the Real-Time Mesoscale Analysis (RTMA) provided relevant meteorological data for the ENVI-met model to conduct street-level thermal observations and model tree canopy cooling interventions in the Yonkers neighborhoods of Kimball and Old 7th Ward. The project results will support the prioritization and equitable distribution of cooling infrastructure in identified neighborhoods. Additionally, Groundwork Hudson Valley will use the analyses as a heat literacy tool to improve advocacy efforts and inform both residents and officials about how investment in deliberate modification to tree canopy cover improves the city’s thermal environment and helps mitigate extreme heat.

Tamara Barbakova↗

NASA NTRS2022

Embedding Climate Change in Urban Planning and Urban Design in New York City

Confronting the challenges of a rapidly urbanizing world threatened by climate change requires expanding the traditional influence and capabilities of urban planning and urban design, integrating climate science, natural systems and compact urban form to configure dynamic, desirable and healthy communities. Cost-effective planning and design measures that help mitigate emissions while bringing adaptive benefits should be prioritized. The chapter draws from the publication Climate Change and Cities (Cambridge University Press 2018) by the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN). The two-phase New York City case study by the Urban Design Climate Lab at the New York Institute of Technology and a team of international urban design climate experts illustrates how this emerging expertise can be replicated and implemented worldwide. Its focus on configuring people-centered public spaces that enhance energy efficiency and improve public health draws from four urban climate factors: improving efficiency of urban systems, both in energy and transportation; optimizing the form and layout of urban districts to enhance ventilation; promoting appropriate building materials with high reflectivity; and increasing green and blue urban infrastructure. The chapter highlights a set of tools and methods to measure success.

Resiliency↗

NASA NTRS1996

Thermal signatures of urban land cover types: High-resolution thermal infrared remote sensing of urban heat island in Huntsville, AL

The main objective of this research is to apply airborne high-resolution thermal infrared imagery for urban heat island studies, using Huntsville, AL, a medium-sized American city, as the study area. The occurrence of urban heat islands represents human-induced urban/rural contrast, which is caused by deforestation and the replacement of the land surface by non-evaporating and non-porous materials such as asphalt and concrete. The result is reduced evapotranspiration and more rapid runoff of rain water. The urban landscape forms a canopy acting as a transitional zone between the atmosphere and the land surface. The composition and structure of this canopy have a significant impact on the thermal behavior of the urban environment. Research on the trends of surface temperature at rapidly growing urban sites in the United States during the last 30 to 50 years suggests that significant urban heat island effects have caused the temperatures at these sites to rise by 1 to 2 C. Urban heat islands have caused changes in urban precipitation and temperature that are at least similar to, if not greater than, those predicted to develop over the next 100 years by global change models. Satellite remote sensing, particularly NOAA AVHRR thermal data, has been used in the study of urban heat islands. Because of the low spatial resolution (1.1 km at nadir) of the AVHRR data, these studies can only examine and map the phenomenon at the macro-level. The present research provides the rare opportunity to utilize 5-meter thermal infrared data acquired from an airplane to characterize more accurately the thermal responses of different land cover types in the urban landscape as input to urban heat island studies.

Lo, Chor Pang↗

NASA NTRS2012

Roles of Urban Tree Canopy and Buildings in Urban Heat Island Effects: Parameterization and Preliminary Results

Urban heat island (UHI) effects can strengthen heat waves and air pollution episodes. In this study, the dampening impact of urban trees on the UHI during an extreme heat wave in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, metropolitan area is examined by incorporating trees, soil, and grass into the coupled Weather Research and Forecasting model and an urban canopy model (WRF-UCM). By parameterizing the effects of these natural surfaces alongside roadways and buildings, the modified WRF-UCM is used to investigate how urban trees, soil, and grass dampen the UHI. The modified model was run with 50% tree cover over urban roads and a 10% decrease in the width of urban streets to make space for soil and grass alongside the roads and buildings. Results show that, averaged over all urban areas, the added vegetation decreases surface air temperature in urban street canyons by 4.1 K and road-surface and building-wall temperatures by 15.4 and 8.9 K, respectively, as a result of tree shading and evapotranspiration. These temperature changes propagate downwind and alter the temperature gradient associated with the Chesapeake Bay breeze and, therefore, alter the strength of the bay breeze. The impact of building height on the UHI shows that decreasing commercial building heights by 8 m and residential building heights by 2.5 m results in up to 0.4-K higher daytime surface and near-surface air temperatures because of less building shading and up to 1.2-K lower nighttime temperatures because of less longwave radiative trapping in urban street canyons.

urban vegetation↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

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

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Urban Development↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Huntsville Urban Development: Utilizing NASA Earth Observations to Evaluate Urban Tree Canopy and Land Surface Temperature for Green Infrastructure Development and Urban Heat Mitigation in Huntsville, AL

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Urban Development↗

NASA NTRS1990

Natural hydrocarbons, urbanization, and urban ozone

The combined effects of emission control and urbanization, with its concomitant intensification of the urban heat island, on urban ozone concentrations are studied. The effect of temperature on ozone is considered, and attention is given to the temperature effect on ozone photochemistry. Model calculations suggest that ozone concentration enhancements are caused by the effect of temperature on the atmospheric chemistry of peroxyacetyl nitrate, as well as the temperature dependence of natural and anthropogenic hydrocarbon emissions. It is pointed out that, because of the sensitivity of urban ozone to local climatic conditions and the ability of trees to moderate summertime temperatures, the inadvertent removal of trees from urbanization can have an adverse effect on urban ozone concentration, while a temperature increase in the urban heat island caused by urbanization can essentially cancel out the ozone-reducing benefits obtained from a 50-percent reduction in anthropogenic hydrocarbon emissions.

Cardelino, C. A.↗

NASA NTRS2011

The Conundrum of Impacts of Climate Change on Urbanization and the Urban Heat Island Effect

The twenty-first century is the first urban century according to the United Nations Development Program. The focus on cities reflects awareness of the growing percentage of the world's population that lives in urban areas. In 2000, approximately 3 billion people representing about 40% of the global population resided in urban areas. The United Nations estimates that by 2025, 60% of the world s population will live in urban areas. As a consequence, the number of megacities (those cities with populations of 10 million inhabitants or more) will increase by 100 by 2025. Thus, there is a critical need to understand the spatial growth of urban areas and what the impacts are on the environment. Moreover, there is a critical need to assess how under global climate change, cities will affect the local, regional, and even global climate. As urban areas increase in size, it is anticipated there will be a concomitant growth of the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI), and the attributes that are related to its spatial and temporal dynamics. Therefore, how climate change, including the dynamics of the UHI, will affect the urban environment, must be explored to help mitigate potential impacts on the environment (e.g., air quality, heat stress, vectorborne disease) and on human health and well being, to develop adaptation schemes to cope with these impacts.

Quattrochi, Dale A.↗