How can we direct City resources towards the areas most impacted by extreme heat?

Department or Agency: Office of Sustainability

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Topics

Data ManagementEnvironment & ClimateEquity & Inclusion

Project Overview

Summary

We want to understand where the most severe urban heat islands (UHI) in San Antonio are located. We are interested in focusing resources and installing heat mitigation tools in marginalized neighborhoods most impacted by extreme heat. We want to use available climate data (surface temperature, tree canopy cover, flood risk, soil moisture, albedo, etc.) as well as the City of San Antonio’s Equity Atlas, to identify urban heat islands, preferably at a census tract or neighborhood level. Results will be used to strategize and focus City’s resources (pilot studies and scale implementation of adaptation and mitigation efforts) towards listed areas disproportionately impacted by extreme heat.

Helpful links:

The Heat Vulnerability and Assessment Tool (HVAT) can be found on the SA Sustainability Dashboard.
The Equity Atlas can be found at the following website: Equity Matrix + Demographic Indicator Maps (arcgis.com)

Deliverables

Please see the final report here: UHI Neighborhood Analysis Final Report.

Proposed list of areas in the hottest UHIs, preferably at a census tract or neighborhood level.
Proposed areas in the hottest UHIs mapped on a user-friendly, public website.
Executive-level report with factors (e.g. equity scores, air temperature, surface temperature, flood risk) and methodology included.

Planned use of results

Results will be used to strategize and focus City’s resources towards listed areas disproportionally impacted by extreme heat.

Data

Datasets:

Average albedo by zipcode (2019)
Land cover by zip code (2019)
Average light pollution by zip code (2020)
Average soil moisture index by month by zip code (2020)
Average surface temperature by month by zip code (2019)
Average Urban Thermal Field Variation Index (UTFVI) by month by zip code (2020)
Average Vegetation Quality (NDVI) by month by zip code (2019)
Flood risk data
Equity Atlas data

The project is complete.

We’re eager to learn how you use the results and welcome any questions.

Project point of contact

Office of Innovation

Project Team

Office of Innovation