Current Projects:
Quantifying the Role of Engineered Materials in Forming the Urban Heat Island in London and Chicago.
As part of a pilot project sponsored by the General London Authority and in conjunction with researchers at Kings College (University of London) and Arizona State University’s EPA National Center of National Center of Excellence (NCE) on SMART Innovations for Urban Climate and Energy, we will acquire three day/night ASTER image pairs of the London metropolitan region during the summer of 2006.
These data will be used for several key components of our overall goal of understanding environmental impacts on the London urban heat island and vice versa. First, in situ ground measurements including surface temperature, surface emissivity, and downwelling atmospheric radiance will be coordinated with ASTER overpasses using a portable FTIR instrument in selected parts of the city. Additionally, IR radiometers will be used to collect spot temperatures for comparison and calibration. Second, the ASTER data will be used for creating surface temperature and emissivity maps. Land cover and land use classifications will be analyzed with regards to these temperature and emissivity maps.
A goal of this work is to understand how urban land cover and use affects heat island distribution in the London metropolitan region on local and regional scales. Finally, the ASTER images will be helpful in understanding urban material properties specific to London. An area of ongoing research of ASU’s NCE is to understand the physical properties of urban pavements and other building materials under real world conditions. Determining albedo, thermal inertia, and pavement spectral shape are important capabilities that ASTER provides.
ASTER is unique and vital to this project as it is the only satellite instrument currently available to provide multi-spectral thermal imagery during both the day and night. Further, ASTER’s moderate to high spatial resolutions (90m for thermal channels and 15m for visible near-infrared channels) allows us to make a connection between urban structure and form with temperature and emissivity distributions. Landsat ETM+ and other currently operating sensors do not have these specifications, especially the ability to acquire night-time data.
Our geographic area of interest is centered at 51o 32’ N and 0o 5’ W, and we are requesting three daytime and three nighttime scenes, paired as closely as possible, to be acquired in late June, July, and early August of 2006. Using the Terra overpass predictor tool, we have approximated our dates of acquisition to be June 26 (night), June 27 (day), July 19 (night), July 22 (day), August 4 (night), and August 7 (day). The exact dates for acquisition will be submitted based on the Terra overpass predictor tool 4 to 6 weeks prior to the approximate dates above. We will adapt our ground campaign to coincide with actual ASTER data overpasses and acquisition as is reasonably possible.
A similar proejct will be undertaken for the City of Chicago during July 2006.