Simulations / Environmental Science

Urban Heat Island Explorer

Paved lots soak up the sun and trees cool the air. Redesign a city block by changing how much of it is paved and shaded, and see the estimated afternoon temperature change.

Design the block

Tree crowns can shade pavement, so canopy and pavement can overlap.
Starts at the city's average July afternoon high (2015–2024).
Simplified teaching model: afternoon air temperature = regional temperature + 0.08 × pavement% − 0.07 × canopy%. Real temperatures also depend on wind, buildings, moisture, and time of day. Surface temperatures are often much hotter than the air.
Estimated air temp
°F, mid-afternoon
Heating from pavement
°F
Cooling from trees
°F
Compared with a park
°F warmer (+) or cooler (−)

Try this

  • Start at the parking-lot preset. How many percent of canopy would cool it by 3°F?
  • Does cool pavement or planting trees give more cooling per change of 10 percentage points?
  • Raise the regional temperature to 95°F. Which block would you want to live on?

What to notice

  • The scatter points come from the heat_island_sites_model.csv dataset (illustrative values).
  • The trend line slopes upward with pavement and the colors show canopy.

Connect to the lab