NOAA Urban Heat Island (UHI) of Washington DC Virtual Reality (VR) Experience

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS), in partnership with CAPA Strategies, developed a process for cities to conduct volunteer-based, community science field campaigns to map and understand how heat is distributed in their communities. The data collected from these campaigns is being used to inform community decisions to mitigate heat risk and support heat planning, preparedness, and response.

The Virtual Reality (VR) experience is a modern and engaging approach to scientific data visualization that allows anyone to observe and understand heat inequities in urban areas. By combining Urban Heat Island (UHI) data with other publicly available data, such as 3D buildings and satellite imagery, the VR experience provides a realistic representation of the UHI phenomenon, highlighting the importance of addressing heat in cities and the potential benefits of green infrastructure and other measures to cool down urban environments.

In this visualization of UHI data, Esri’s geographic information system (GIS) software was used to create a 3D model of the city's landscape. This model was then integrated with UHI data to create a realistic representation of the UHI phenomenon. Users can then use VR headsets to navigate the virtual city and explore UHI data in a more immersive way. For instance, they can see the distribution of high and low-temperature areas across the city and how they are affected by different factors like land use, vegetation cover, and building height. Visualizing this data in VR can help stakeholders, urban planners, and researchers to better understand the magnitude and distribution of UHI effects in a given city.

As part of the VR experience there is a tour where users visit 4 different neighborhoods around Washington DC with diverse temperature and socio-economic profiles, and an example of community-government partnership, to better understand neighborhood differences and potential solutions. In this case it turns into a powerful tool that can help raise public awareness about the importance of addressing UHI in cities and the potential benefits of green infrastructure and other measures to cool down urban environments.