{"id":465,"date":"2014-06-18T11:19:50","date_gmt":"2014-06-18T18:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/?post_type=chapter&p=465"},"modified":"2014-08-29T14:00:53","modified_gmt":"2014-08-29T21:00:53","slug":"case-study-2-5","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/geography\/chapter\/case-study-2-5\/","title":{"raw":"Case Study 2: Urban Heat Islands, Health and Spatial Technologies","rendered":"Case Study 2: Urban Heat Islands, Health and Spatial Technologies"},"content":{"raw":"Air temperature is greatly influenced by microclimates,\u00a0and\u00a0urban areas have disproportionately higher temperatures due\u00a0to the thermal properties of humanmade materials, lower vegetation cover and less evapotranspiration, as well as complex surface morphology that traps outgoing longwave radiation. Being able to\u00a0map the intensity and extent of\u00a0urban heat islands with existing data enables mitigation of\u00a0the negative ramifications for health-related heat risk (Tomlinson, Chapman, Thornes, & Baker, 2011).\r\n\r\nHung Chak Ho and Dr. Anders Knudby, researchers from Simon Fraser University, are combining weather data collected by volunteers,\u00a0government\u00a0weather stations and remotely sensed data to understand and predict\u00a0temperature variability in\u00a0Vancouver, BC. These researchers are\u00a0most\u00a0interested in summer months because of the changes in climate because\u00a0significantly higher temperatures in the summer increase\u00a0health risks,\u00a0especially for\u00a0certain populations such as the elderly and others with social and emotional vulnerability (Kovats &\u00a0Hajat,\u00a02008).\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_170\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\"]\"Figure<\/a> Figure 7.2: Daily maximum air temperature relative to Vancouver[\/caption]\r\n\r\nTheir analysis found large (~10 \u00b0C) temperature variability across the urban landscape, with hotspots located in areas with low vegetation cover, few water bodies and dense urban development far from the coast.\u00a0The unique methodology incorporating remote sensing, citizens and weather stations\u00a0helps identify not only such hotspots but also sheds light on the factors that influence local temperature variability. Combined with information on the location of vulnerable populations, this information can help health authorities guide emergency response during extreme heat events, and can inform prioritization of urban greening and cooling initiatives.\r\n

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