J3.2
Mitigating New York City's Heat Island with Urban Forestry, Living Roofs, and Light Surfaces
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Results showed that land cover plays a dominant role in determining heat island potential in New York City. Using the project methods, we found that that the relationship between vegetation and surface temperature is stronger than the relationship between urban geometry – e.g. building heights, road density – and surface temperature. Vegetation was found to have a greater effect on surface temperature than albedo.
Since vegetation has a significant effect on surface temperature, the redevelopment of urban surfaces to increase vegetation cover could significantly reduce New York City's surface temperature. Surface temperatures are related to air temperatures, and thus land cover modification could also affect the city's air temperature.
The cooling effect of trees on surface temperature tends to be localized rather than spread to adjacent areas. Remotely-sensed surface data show that the cooling effect of trees tends to be limited to 200 feet (61 meters).