A spatially explicit surface urban heat island database for the United States: Characterization, uncertainties, and possible applications

Chakraborty, TC; Hsu, Angel; Manya, Diego; Sheriff, Glenn

doi:10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2020.07.021

Cited by 136 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…2 , this pattern holds not only at the national level, but in almost all major urban areas regardless of geographical location or climate zones, with a particularly intense difference in the Northeast and upper Midwest of the continental United States. These findings provide comprehensive evidence supporting the narrative presented by earlier case studies that minority and low-income communities bear the brunt of the urban heat island effect 23 , 25 , 26 , 29 – 32 , 35 , air temperature 23 , and heat stress 31 in individual or multicity studies.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…We calculate harm on the basis of the census tract level database of SUHI intensity for the USA we developed in ref. 35 . During summer months, relatively large SUHI intensity is associated with increased local warming and extreme heat events in urban areas 13,36,37 .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We group urbanized areas by Köppen–Geiger 52 climate zones: arid, snow, warm temperate (henceforth referred to as temperate), and equatorial. For total population, summer day SUHI intensity is lowest (0.40 ± 1.75 °C) in arid zones, potentially due to the presence of more vegetation in urban areas compared to their rural references, which moderates the urban–rural temperature differentials 15 , 35 . Most cities are in snow and temperate zones, with a mean SUHI intensity of about 2.2 °C.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Source: Author calculations, based on data from US Census Bureau and ref. 35 . Sample includes all urbanized areas with 2017 population over 250,000.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Currently disadvantaged groups suffer more from greater heat exposure that can further exacerbate existing inequities in health outcomes and associated economic burdens, leaving them with fewer resources to adapt to increasing temperature 75 . Increasing trends of urbanization, 35 . Sample includes all urbanized areas with 2017 population over 250,000.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Disproportionate exposure to urban heat island intensity across major US cities

et al. 2021

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Urban heat stress poses a major risk to public health. Case studies of individual cities suggest that heat exposure, like other environmental stressors, may be unequally distributed across income groups. There is little evidence, however, as to whether such disparities are pervasive. We combine surface urban heat island (SUHI) data, a proxy for isolating the urban contribution to additional heat exposure in built environments, with census tract-level demographic data to answer these questions for summer days, when heat exposure is likely to be at a maximum. We find that the average person of color lives in a census tract with higher SUHI intensity than non-Hispanic whites in all but 6 of the 175 largest urbanized areas in the continental United States. A similar pattern emerges for people living in households below the poverty line relative to those at more than two times the poverty line.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… Source: Author calculations, based on data from US Census Bureau and ref. 35 . Sample includes all urbanized areas with 2017 population over 250,000.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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