Urban heat study to include LR
NOAA mapping program targets reasons cities get hotter
WASHINGTON — A federal program addressing temperatures in urban areas has extended its study to Little Rock for this year’s campaign.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration selected Arkansas’ capital city as a participant in the 2023 Urban Heat Island mapping campaign with 17 other communities in the United States and Santiago, Chile.
This year’s program marks the seventh such effort, which has included more than 70 communities involving local agencies and volunteers collecting temperature and humidity data. Little Rock is the first Arkansas community to participate in the campaign.
The city of Little Rock’s Sustainability Office is leading the effort with support from multiple city agencies. The U.S. Department of Commerce, which oversees NOAA and the National Weather Service, mentioned local universities and organizations may work with municipal bodies on data collection.
Little Rock officials were unavailable to discuss the city’s participation with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, citing the ongoing storm recovery efforts following the March 31 tornado that struck the metro area and other parts of the state.
Other cities participating in this year’s program include Dallas, Oklahoma City and Chicago. Each community applied for the campaign.
The effort focuses on the effects of urbanization on a city’s temperature. Concrete structures and roadways absorb heat throughout the day and hold heat longer than vegetated areas, making these areas warmer even through the evening hours.
“They will cool off, but they’ll cool off at a slower rate,” said Thomas Jones, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in North Little Rock. “As you make it into the morning hours, you are still retaining some of that heat.”
According to the NOAA, urban heat islands — cities with unshaded areas and little vegetation — can experience temperatures up to 20 degrees warmer than surrounding areas.
Federal Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves told the Democrat-Gazette that NOAA’s concerns with
urban heat islands stem from the number of heat-related fatalities — the leading cause of weather fatalities in the country — and climate change’s effect on weather.
“As we see climate change worsening the types of extreme weather events and extreme heat, it’s going to be absolutely vital for us to have this type of information and provide it to local decision-makers, to residents, and to researchers so we can make better decisions about how to deal with these challenges, how to mitigate these challenges, and how to build a better future that will also save lives,” he said.
The Little Rock plan focuses on the city’s Sustainability Action Plan and prioritizing urban reforestation. Research in multiple areas, including Little Rock, will additionally concentrate on inequities. Low-income families are often more affected by higher temperatures with greater energy costs and increased health risks.
“A lot of times, people are paying attention to the afternoon heat index values. Another thing to also consider is how far the temperature falls at night or how little it falls in some of these bigger cities or Little Rock,” Jones said.
“If you don’t have really good relief at night, that can exacerbate the heat stroke and heat exhaustion, and that is something you would normally see over a several-day period.”
Data collection efforts can capture temperature and humidity data with sensors attached
to cars and homes, in which volunteers can move the devices to understand how specific structures and building materials impact heat in an area. Real-time data from Little Rock and other participating communities will be presented live at https://www.heat.gov/.
NOAA has noticed municipalities’ reactions to data. Houston developed a citywide resilience strategy following its participation in the program, and Honolulu officials have cited collection efforts in making decisions about urban tree planting.
Graves mentioned local leaders use captured data while planning infrastructure improvements and renovations, which involve decisions
on the materials for projects.
“It’s that type of data that’s allowing many of these cities to make better decisions about investments, better decisions about where they locate cooling centers, for instance, and understanding of which part of their communities are going to be hit the hardest each time there is a heat wave,” he said.
“Those are the types of things that are improving efficiencies, [and] they’re reducing costs to residents. They’re certainly allowing the cities to maximize efficiency, and at the end of the day, these are going to save lives.”
A final report on the data collection efforts will be published toward the end of the year.