Transcript for New Jersey Health and Air Quality

Jerrod: Urbanization has created an increase in what is known as the urban heat island effect. 

Jerrod: The urban heat island effect reflects an elevated temperature in cities as compared with nearby rural areas. This is due to landscapes changing from permeable moist surfaces to impermeable dry surfaces.

Jerrod: This issue is most prevalent in large cities in which the surface type is mainly impermeable concrete. 

Jerrod: Urban heat island effect can result in numerous health problems including respiratory difficulties, heat cramps, heat stroke, and heat-related mortality

Jerrod: This term, here at the international research institute for climate and society we looked into the urban heat island effect on the Rowan university campus in southern New Jersey.

Jerrod: Dr. Rouzbeh Nazari and his students from the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Rowan University helped by placing temperature probes around various microclimates on the campus. These microclimates were concrete, grass, water, and asphalt. Dr. Pietro Ceccato of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society explains further.

Dr. Ceccato: So in this project we are trying to understand the climate in urban areas and especially the temperature. And how the temperature is changing in time and spatially.

Dr. Ceccato: So we try and provide that information for health issues to see how the temperature is impacting the health of the population living in urban areas. To do that we are monitoring the spatial distribution and temporal distribution of temperature using measurements in the field from the ground to three meters high and see how the temperature is changing every ten centimeters. And then we want to provide that information in combination with Landsat images and the Landsat images will provide us a better spatial distribution of the temperature in big cities in the eastern part of the United States. And we are also interested in doing the same research in areas in Brazil and in Africa.

Maryam: We analyzed the comparison of Landsat 8 imagery to the probe data obtained around the Rowan University campus.

Maryam: In our analysis over the study period of May 2015 through July 2015, we found that the different Landsat images matched the different microclimates at varying vertical heights.

Maryam: For asphalt, at the vertical height of 3.5 to 4ft, the Landsat imagery most closely matched the probe data with less than 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit difference.

Maryam: For concrete, at the vertical height of 0 to 0.5ft, the Landsat imagery most closely matched the probe data with less than 0.8 degrees Fahrenheit difference.

Maryam: For grass microclimates, at the vertical height of 6.5ft the Landsat imagery most closely matched the probe data with less than 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit difference.

Maryam: And finally for mainly water microclimates, at a vertical height of 6 to 8.5ft the Landsat imagery most closely matched the probe data with 1 to 8 degrees Fahrenheit difference.

Maryam: Using results from this work and future work on additional locations, different constants could be calculated in order to complete an empirical formula. 

Maryam: However, even after such a formula is completed there may still be errors due to changes in conditions from those that were used to find the formula’s constants. 

Maryam: As such, an offset table should be included in order to correct for weather types and surface types in different environments.