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

Keywords: UHI, temperature increase, Earth Observations, urban albedo
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Tuesday
Session Start / End Time: 3/1/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 3/1/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 8

Abstract

By 2030, experts expect that Cambridge, Massachusetts, part of the greater Boston metropolitan area, will experience warmer than average temperatures and triple the number of abnormally warm days above 90F per year. Changes in climate and extreme variation in regional temperature can exacerbate impacts of the urban heat island (UHI) effect. This is concerning since elevated temperatures stemming from the UHI effect can have widespread impacts on human health and local biodiversity. A NASA DEVELOP team 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 calculated building-specific rooftop albedo between 2008 and 2018 using scenes obtained from High Resolution Orthoimagery and National Agriculture Imagery Program in conjunction with building footprint data. A nighttime land surface temperature (LST) record between 2003 and 2019 was constructed for June, July, and August 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, allowing the Cambridge community to explore spatial and temporal trends in albedo, nighttime LST, and temperature anomalies. Ultimately, this project allowed the City of Cambridge to assess whether its initiatives are successfully reducing the effects of UHIs.