Hut, Hut, HEAT! - an Assessment of Extreme Heat Impacts on Spectator Health, during Sporting Events, through Data and Scientific Intervention

One key attraction of Auburn is the prevalence of a major collegiate sports team, which draws in fans from around Alabama to fill a roughly 80,000 seat stadium. Having such a large influx of individuals during game days, with high temperatures, is a major concern for Campus Safety and Security and the City of Auburn. For fan safety the increase in the heat index, a combination of air temperature and humidity, to 90 degrees and above is considered dangerous and is of major concern. This study aims to understand the spatial distribution of heat within the football and baseball stadiums on the university's campus, to improve fan safety and health. Fifteen (football) and twenty (baseball), ibutton hygrochron devices were evenly dispersed around the stadium’s, recording data at 10-minute intervals. To date, it has been found that the faculty section within the football stadium (125 F), and student sections within the baseball stadium (111 F), had the highest heat indices. This is of most concern as these populations can be less perceptive about and more vulnerable to heat-related illnesses. One of the hottest games of the 2023 football season was against the University of Georgia, in which fans were exposed to heat levels classified as ‘Extreme Caution’, based on the NWS Heat Index, for roughly over two hours. This project communicates findings to Campus Safety in order to improve their gameday ‘Heat Plan’ to protect fan health, informs the residents of Auburn of ways to combat extreme heat, and collaborates with an interdisciplinary and trans-organizational team to generate actionable solutions.