Due to 'urban heat island' effects, certain areas in cities experience hotter temperatures than other areas. Hotter temperatures are a health risk for people and also harm trees, reducing the environmental benefits they provide, such as cooler temperatures and cleaner air.
The locations of these high-heat pockets vary dramatically across cities and are tied partially to where larger trees are located.
Our research focuses on mapping urban heat at micro-scales and integrating those measurements with tree health data and human socio-economic analyses in order to deepen our understanding on these key relationships, with the goal of building greener, cooler, and more equitable cities.
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Coupled Natural-Human Systems
Discovery Trees