An urban heat mapping project led by Salvador Lindquist, assistant professor of landscape architecture at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, and Keenan Gibbons, a lecturer at the University of Michigan, was featured in a recent CNN Business story.

Urban areas can be 15 to 20 degrees hotter than surrounding rural areas in extreme cases, CNN Business reported, due to the “urban heat island effect.”

“Heat is amplified due to the different types of materials you would commonly find in the city — asphalt, concrete, reflective building surfaces,” Lindquist said.

Governments and organizations use satellites to measure heat distribution on a regional scale, CNN Business reported.

“The problem with that is that satellites can only understand heat at a 30 meter by 30 meter resolution,” Lindquist said. “We’re trying to find ways to understand the really highly localized impacts of heat.”

Lindquist and Gibbons are using drones and other specialized tools to create 3D models of urban streetscapes that allow for thermal comparison. The goal is for these models to be used by landscape architecture firms, companies and cities to implement solutions to urban heat such as increased tree coverage, lighter pavement, and white or green rooftops.

To read a July 27 KETV story on the project, click here. To learn more about the Landscape Architecture program at Nebraska, click here.

Nebraska Headliners highlights Husker faculty and staff featured in major news outlets. If you see a possible Nebraska Headliner, submit the story or URL via email to nebraskatoday@unl.edu.