Urban Heat Islands – Mapping Campaign Program

Since 2017, NOAA (Office of Education, Climate Program Office, and National Integrated Heat Health Information System) has funded CAPA Heat Watch to support 80+ communities across the United States in mapping their urban heat islands (UHI). CAPA Strategies, LLC has developed a process to help cities plan and execute a volunteer-based community science field campaign that 1) builds upon local partnerships and engages residents in a scientific study to map and understand how heat is distributed in their communities, and 2) produce high-quality outputs that have been used in city sustainability plans, public health practices, urban forestry, research projects, and other engagement activities.

The collection of Urban Heat Island Mapping information is authorized under the OMB Control Number included in the Citizen Science & Crowdsourcing Information Collection page.

See community profiles, learn more about the participants, and download data and reports.

These community science field campaigns are an excellent opportunity to raise awareness about the many impacts of extreme heat and the factors that may affect the uneven distribution of heat throughout a community. It is also an opportunity to teach aspiring young scientists and volunteers about how scientific field campaigns are conducted. During the campaigns, volunteers engage in training sessions to learn about urban heat, work in groups to attach sensors to their vehicles, and drive pre-mapped transects through their cities to collect temperature and humidity data linked to GPS coordinates.

The final product of the community science field campaigns is a set of high resolution air temperature and humidity data, and a report by CAPA Strategies that provides a detailed analysis of heat distribution in the morning, afternoon and evening. Interactive, high-resolution web maps of the modeled air temperature and heat index are also provided. The maps are produced using a machine learning process that combines satellite imagery and air temperature and humidity readings collected by volunteers during the campaign. For more information, see this recent publication on the mapping process: https://doi.org/10.3390/cli7010005.

Communities interested in applying to run a campaign with NOAA support are encouraged to reach out to many potential partners/organizations as soon as possible to build a network for organizing volunteers and for identifying uses for the resulting datasets and products. Please review the information below, and let us know if you have any questions by reaching out to NIHHIS@noaa.gov. Questions specific to the application form can be directed to info@capastrategies.com.

Community

Every community that participates in a CAPA Heat Watch Mapping Campaign will need one principal organization that will lead the campaign, preferably in addition to several partner organizations that can assist with outreach and other tasks. The lead organization will need to enter into a contractual agreement with CAPA Strategies, LLC to ensure the safety of the provided mapping equipment and its return at the end of the campaign. Community partner organizations will help with planning and logistics, volunteer outreach, and application of the campaigns results.

CAPA Strategies, LLC

CAPA Strategies, LLC is a private company that started the Heat Watch program in 2017. CAPA’s Heat Watch program provides start-to-finish guidance for running the campaigns, including all supporting materials. Once campaign logistics are collaboratively developed with Heat Watch program staff, local organizers will receive sensor equipment by mail shortly before conducting the campaign. The sensors are needed to measure temperatures and humidity across select areas of each campaign city, which will be used to produce the final report and maps of urban air temperatures and heat index in cities and counties. This introductory video describes CAPA’s approach to the Heat Watch program.

NOAA

NOAA funds CAPA Strategies, LLC to conduct heat mapping activities. NOAA also provides logistical support, targeted weather and climate predictions to inform local campaign dates, as well as community building capacity and long-term support for implementing the UHI datasets in planning and preparedness efforts. NIHHIS is a NOAA-led, interagency group that works to improve research and services to inform decision-making for heat risk reduction. All participating Heat Watch communities will become part of the growing NIHHIS-CAPA Community of Practice, and they will be able to learn from other communities that have participated in these campaigns to find out how they are using the data to become more resilient to extreme heat.