Remotely Sensing the Heat Island Effect

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REMOTELY SENSING THE HEAT ISLAND EFFECT

The replacement of vegetated areas with concrete cover in high-density urban areas has a number of environmental drawbacks. One of these problems is known as the heat island effect. Pavement and concrete-covered areas can raise the temperature of cities 10°C (50°F) above the temperature in surrounding areas that have kept their vegetation. Such microclimates in cities are not only uncomfortable for the people who live there but also significantly increase power consumption for cooling purposes and increase levels of harmful ground-level ozone. The heat island effect has been studied extensively with remote sensing data obtained from airborne sensors over cities such as Atlanta, Sacramento, Salt Lake City and Baton Rouge.

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