The training date is in the past. However, videos and resources of the training can be accessed here.
The rapid growth of urban populations, the urban heat island (UHI) effect, and a potential increase in the frequency and duration of heat waves due to climate change, raise a series of issues about the increased health risks of sensitive urban populations to extreme heat and the effective means of mitigating impacts of heat waves. According to the US EPA, urban heat islands affect energy consumption, elevate greenhouse gas emissions, and impair water quality by increasing the temperature of urban water runoff.
This training will address the use of remote sensing in determining where "hot spots" of land surface temperature are located in urban areas, why these areas are experiencing increased temperature, which populations are most vulnerable, and ways to mitigate the effects through adaptive land use planning.
By the end of this training, participants will be able to:
Define what an urban heat island (UHI) is and why it matters to urban planners and public health experts
Identify which satellites and sensors can be used for assessing UHI
Give examples of populations that are especially susceptible to heat stress
Summarize the limitations of satellite data for understanding UHI
Recognize new methods that incorporate conventional satellite remote sensing data and in situ observations of temperature and humidity from community science and urban field campaigns
List what landscape features help to explain variations in urban heat islands
Compute land surface temperature from Landsat 4, 5, 7, and 8 within Google Earth Engine
Community, municipal, city, state, federal, and private institutions involved in urban planning, health care, energy supply and demand management, and climate mitigation.
