Mapping and Quantifying Surface Urban Heat Islands in India’s Most Dense Cities

Authors

  • Surekha Surekha Tetali Carnegie Mellon University
  • Nina Baird Carnegie Mellon University
  • Kelly Klima RAND Coorporation

Keywords:

urban heat island, remote sensing, land surface temperature, india, urban development

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and climate change are intensifying the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. In many dense tropical and subtropical cities of the world, land surface temperatures of 140°F (60°C) and air temperatures above 100°F (40°C) regularly occur during summer days and persist during the night as air conditioners reject heat to the outdoors. Today, 54% of the world’s population resides in urban areas and that percentage is projected to increase to 66% in future decades, with India being the greatest contributor to this growth. Nascent research on the use of building design and urban planning to mitigate anthropogenic heat release in India’s developing, super-dense cities is emerging, but substantial work is still needed to characterize existing conditions and reliably predict the urban microclimate in such heat islands. This research uses remote sensing data to map Land Surface Temperature (LST) and quantify urban heat islands in several Indian and US cities. This work is part of a broader research goal of analyzing microclimatic interactions with buildings and outdoor occupancy in India’s cities.

Author Biographies

  • Nina Baird, Carnegie Mellon University
    ASSISTANT TEACHING PROFESSOR

    Dr. Nina Baird, PhD, MSPH, is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the School of Architecture and Co-Chair of Carnegie Mellon’s Green Practices Committee. Nina’s courses explore the dynamic interactions between buildings and the environment. She challenges students to think creatively and critically about improving building performance to support environmental and human health. Her courses combine technical understanding and measured performance assessment with an eye towards new technologies and better integrated solutions.

    At CMU, with its international student mix, Nina also engages students in consideration of the context of sustainability, based on location-specific factors such as natural resources, population density, climate, culture, and the pace of development. Her applied research includes work in district geothermal systems, wastewater energy recovery, and energy-effective affordable housing.  

    Nina came to CMU from a prior career as an environmental health consultant to federal agencies in Washington, DC. Throughout her career, she has been involved in community service and encourages students to be active advocates for and contributors to the world they want. Within Pittsburgh, Nina is involved in development of improved community energy infrastructure and provides consulting in high performance affordable housing. Within CMU’s Green Practices Committee, she is currently focusing on wastewater reclamation and reuse, and development of a campus water plan.

    Nina holds a BA with honors in English from Amherst College, a Master of Science in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and both a Master of Science in Sustainable Design and a PhD in Building Performance and Diagnostics from Carnegie Mellon University. 

  • Kelly Klima, RAND Coorporation

    Kelly Klima is associate program director of the Acquisition and Development Program (ADP) for the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC) and a research engineer at the RAND Corporation. She has over ten years of experience in quantitative and qualitative decision analysis for risk reduction. She is also an affiliate faculty member at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

    Recent work has focused on urban adaptation to reduce natural hazard risks. This includes theory and applications of (1) hazard and vulnerability assessments of hazards, and (2) behavioral and economic decisionmaking leading to plausible hazard mitigation and emergency management solutions. Other areas of expertise include climate and energy, energy and the environment, decisionmaking under uncertainty, and vulnerable populations.

    Klima has published several journal articles and served on the American Geophysical Union (AGU) board of directors and the steering committee for the National Adaptation Forum. She also serves as an adjunct assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University and a summer associate mentor. She holds a CFM from the Association of State Floodplain Managers and a CCEA from the International Cost Estimating and Analysis Association. She received her Ph.D. in engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon University.

    Research Focus  

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Published

2021-10-10

Issue

Vol. 3 (2019): Buildings, Cities, and Performance I

Section

Articles