Urban Heatwaves and Thermal Remote Sensing

Abstract

The increasing concentration of the world's population in cities and the role of cities in driving larger scale climate change through greenhouse gas emissions [1] has made them a critical area for study [2]. Cities are both drivers for, and receptors of, large scale climate changes, which makes cities a focus for both mitigation and adaptation efforts. Among these changes are higher urban temperatures that pose a present and future hazard for urban residents and infrastructure. Remotely sensed surface temperatures are an important data source for characterizing thermal conditions in cities but their application has important constraints. In this presentation I identify suggestions for future research to improve the ability of thermal remote sensing to better contribute to understanding the hazard of urban heat and to help cities better prepare for this hazard.