Reducing Urban Heat Islands
Compendium of Strategies
Urban Heat Island Basics
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Acknowledgements
Reducing Urban Heat Islands: Compendiu m of Strategies describes the
causes and impacts of summertime urban heat islands and promotes
strategies for lowering temperatures in U.S. communities. This compendium
was developed by the Climate Protection Partnership Division in the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Atmospheric Programs. Eva
Wong managed its overall development. Kathleen Hogan, Julie Rosenberg,
and Andrea Denny provided editorial support. Numerous EPA staff in
offices throughout the Agency contributed content and provided reviews.
Subject area experts from other organizations around the United States and
Canada also committed their time to provide technical feedback.
Under contracts 68-W-02-029 and EP-C-06-003, Perrin Quarles Associates,
Inc. provided technical and administrative support for the entire
compendium, and Eastern Research Group, Inc. provided graphics and
production services.
PositvEnergy provided support in preparing the Trees and Vegetation, Cool
Roofs, and UHI Activities chapters under contract PO #2W-036 l-SATX.
Experts who helped shape this chapter include:
Hashem Akbari, Ryan Bell, Tony Brazel, David Cole, Maury Estes, Gordon
Heisler, David Hitchcock, Brenda Johnson, Megan Lewis, Greg McPherson,
Tim Oke, Danny Parker, Alan Perrin, Joyce Rosenthal, David Sailor, Jason
Samenow, Haider Taha, James Voogt, Darrell Winner, Kathy Wolf, and
Barry Zalph.
Suggested Citation: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2008.
"Urban Heat Island Basics." In: Reducing Urban Heat Islands:
Compendium of Strategies. Draft, https://www.epa.gov/heat-islands/
heat-island-compendium.
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Contents
Urban Heat Island Basics 1
1. What Are Urban Heat Islands? 1
1.1 Surface Urban Heat Islands 2
1.2 Atmospheric Urban Heat Islands 3
2. How Do Urban Heat Islands Form? 7
2.1 Reduced Vegetation in Urban Areas 7
2.2 Properties of Urban Materials 8
2.3 Urban Geometry 10
2.4 Anthropogenic Heat 12
2.5 Additional Factors 12
3. Why Do We Care about Urban Heat Islands? 13
3.1 Energy Consumption 13
3.2 Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases 14
3.3 Human Health and Comfort 14
3.4 Water Quality 15
4. Strategies to Reduce Urban Heat Islands 16
5. Additional Resources 16
Endnotes 18
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Urban Heat Island Basics
As urban areas develop, changes occur in the landscape. Buildings, roads, and other
infrastructure replace open land and vegetation. Surfaces that were once perme-
able and moist generally become impermeable and dry* This development leads to
the formation of urban heat islands—the phenomenon whereby urban regions experience
warmer temperatures than their rural surroundings.
This chapter provides an overview of different types of urban heat islands, methods for
identifying them, and factors that contribute to their development. It introduces key con-
cepts that are important to understanding and mitigating this phenomenon, as well as ad-
ditional sources of information. It discusses:
• General features of urban heat islands
• Surface versus atmospheric heat islands
• Causes of urban heat island formation
• Urban heat island impacts on energy consumption, environmental quality, and human health
• Resources for further information.
1. What Are Urban Heat Islands?
Many urban and suburban areas experience elevated temperatures compared to their out-
lying rural surroundings; this difference in temperature is what constitutes an urban heat
island. The annual mean air temperature of a city with one million or more people can
be 1.8 to 5.4QF (1 to 3°C) warmer than its surroundings,1 and on a clear, calm night, this
temperature difference can be as much as 22°F (12°C).2 Even smaller cities and towns will
produce heat islands, though the effect often decreases as city size decreases.3
This chapter focuses on surface and atmospheric urban heat islands. These two heat island
types differ in the ways they are formed, the techniques used to identify and measure
them, their impacts, and to some degree, the methods available to mitigate them. Table 1
summarizes the basic characteristics of each type of heat island. These features are de-
scribed in more detail in the following sections of this chapter.
*This change in landscape may differ in regions such as deserts, where moisture may increase in urban areas if development introduces grass lawns and
other irrigated vegetation.
URBAN HEAT ISLAND BASICS - DRAFT
1
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Table 1: Basic Characteristics of Surface and Atmospheric Urban Heat Islands (UHls)4
Feature
Surface UHI
Atmospheric UHI
Temporal Development
• Presentatall times ofthe day and
night
• Most intense during the day and in
the summer
• May be small or non-existent during
the day
• Most intense at night or predawn and
in the winter
Peak Intensity
(Most intense UHI
conditions)
• More spatial and temporal variation:
¦ Day: 18 to 27°F (10 to 15°C)
¦ Night: 9 to 18°F (5 to 10°C)
• Less variation:
¦ Day: -1.8 to 5.4°F (-1 to 3°C)
¦ Night: 12.6 to 21,6°F (7 to 12°C)
Typical Identification
Method
• Indirect measurement:
¦ Remote sensing
• Direct measurement:
¦ Fixed weather stations
¦ Mobile traverses
Typical Depiction
• Thermal image
• Isotherm map
• Temperature graph
1.1 Surface Urban Heat Islands
On a hot, sunny summer day, the sun can
heat dry, exposed urban surfaces, like roofs
and pavement, to temperatures 50 to 90°F
(27 to 50°C) hotter than the air,5 while
shaded or moist surfaces—often in more
rural surroundings—remain close to air
temperatures. Surface urban heat islands
are typically present day and night, but
tend to be strongest during the day when
the sun is shining.
On average, the difference in daytime sur-
face temperatures between developed and
rural areas is 18 to 27°F (10 to 15°C); the
difference in nighttime surface tempera-
tures is typically smaller, at 9 to 18°F (5 to
10°C).6
The magnitude of surface urban heat is-
lands varies with seasons, due to changes
in the sun's intensity as well as ground
cover and weather. As a result of such
variation, surface urban heat islands are
typically largest in the summer.7
How Weather Influences
Urban Heat Islands
Summertime urban heat islands are
most intense when the sky is clear
and winds are calm. Heavy cloud
cover blocks solar radiation, reducing
daytime warming in cities. Strong
winds increase atmospheric mixing,
lowering the urban-rural temperature
difference. This document, Reducing
Urban Heat Islands: Compendium
of Strategies, focuses on mitigating
summertime heat islands through
strategies that have maximum impact
under clear, calm conditions.
To identify urban heat islands, scientists
use direct and indirect methods, numerical
modeling, and estimates based on empiri-
cal models. Researchers often use remote
sensing, an indirect measurement tech-
nique, to estimate surface temperatures.
They use the data collected to produce
thermal images, such as that shown in
Figure 1.
2
REDUCING URBAN HEAT ISLANDS - DRAFT
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Figure 1 :Thermal Image Depicting a
Surface Urban Heat Island
This image, taken from an aircraft, depicts a
midday surface urban heat island in Salt Lake
City, Utah, on July 13,1998. White areas are
around 160°F (70°C), while dark biue areas are
near 85°F (30°C). Note the warmer urban surface
temperatures (left side of image) and cooler
surfaces in the neighboring foothills (on the right).
1.2 Atmospheric Urban Heat
Islands
Warmer air in urban areas compared to
cooler air in nearby rural surroundings
defines atmospheric urban heat islands.
Experts often divide these heat islands into
two different types:
• Canopy layer urban heat islands exist
in the layer of air where people live,
from the ground to below the tops of
trees and roofs.
• Boundary layer urban heat islands
start from the rooftop and treetop
level and extend up to the point where
urban landscapes no longer influence
the atmosphere. This region typically
extends no more than one mile (1.5
km) from the surface.8
Canopy layer urban heat islands are the
most commonly observed of the two
types and are often the ones referred to in
discussions of urban heat islands. For this
reason, this chapter and compendium use
the more general term atmospheric urban
heat islands to refer to canopy layer urban
heat islands.
Atmospheric urban heat islands are often
weak during the late morning and through-
out the day and become more pronounced
after sunset due to the slow release of heat
from urban infrastructure. The timing of
this peak, however, depends on the proper-
ties of urban and rural surfaces, the season,
and prevailing weather conditions.
URBAN HEAT ISLAND BASICS - DRAFT
3
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Surface and Air Temperatures: How Are They Related?
Surface temperatures have an indirect, but significant, influence on air temperatures,
especially in the canopy layer, which is closest to the surface. For example, parks
and vegetated areas, which typically have cooler surface temperatures, contribute to
cooler air temperatures. Dense, built-up areas, on the other hand, typically lead to
warmer air temperatures. Because air mixes within the atmosphere, though, the rela-
tionship between surface and air temperatures is not constant, and air temperatures
typically vary less than surface temperatures across an area (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: Variations of Surface and Atmospheric Temperatures
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Atmospheric heat islands vary much less in
intensity than surface heat islands. On an
annual mean basis, air temperatures in large
cities might be 1.8 to 5.4°F (1 to 3°C) warm-
er than those of their rural surroundings.9
Researchers typically measure air tem-
peratures through a dense network of
sampling points from fixed stations or
mobile traverses, which are both direct
measurement methods. Figure 3 illustrates
a conceptual isotherm map that depicts an
atmospheric urban heat island. The center
of the figure, which is the hottest area, is
the urban core. A simple graph of tempera-
ture differences, as shown in Figure 4, is
another way to show the results.
Figure 3: Isotherm Map Depicting an Atmospheric
Nighttime Urban Heat Island
This conceptual map with overlaid isotherms (lines of equal air temperature)
exhibits a fully developed nighttime atmospheric urban heat island. The
dotted red line indicates a traverse along which measurements are taken.
Figure 4: Conceptual Drawing of the Diurnal Evolution of the Urban Heat
Atmospheric urban heat islands
primarily result from different cooling
rates between urban areas and their
surrounding rural or non-urban
§ surroundings (section (a) of Figure
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Urban Heat Islands, Climate Change, and Global Warming
Urban heat islands refer to the elevated tempera-
tures in developed areas compared to more rural
surroundings. Urban heat islands are caused by
development and the changes in radiative and
thermal properties of urban infrastructure as well
as the impacts buildings can have on the local
micro-climate—for example tall buildings can
slow the rate at which cities cool off at night.
Heat islands are influenced by a city's geographic
location and by local weather patterns, and their
intensity changes on a daily and seasonal basis.
The warming that results from urban heat islands
over small areas such as cities is an example
of local climate change. Local climate changes
resulting from urban heat islands fundamentally
differ from global climate changes in that their
effects are limited to the local scale and decrease
with distance from their source. Global climate
changes, such as those caused by increases in
the sun's intensity or greenhouse gas concentra-
tions, are not locally or regionally confined.
Climate change, broadly speaking, refers to
any significant change in measures of climate
(such as temperature, precipitation, or wind)
lasting for an extended period (decades or
longer). Climate change may result from:
• Natural factors, such as changes in the
sun's intensity or slow changes in the
Earth's orbit around the sun
• Natural processes within the climate sys-
tem (e.g. changes in ocean circulation)
• Human activities that change the atmo-
sphere's composition (e.g. burning fossil
fuels) and the land surface (e.g. deforesta-
tion, reforestation, or urbanization).
The term climate change is often used inter-
changeably with the term global warming, but
according to the National Academy of Sci-
ences, "the phrase 'climate change' is growing
in preferred use to 'global warming' because
it helps convey that there are [other] changes
in addition to rising temperatures."
Global warming is an average increase in
the temperature of the atmosphere near the
Earth's surface and in the lowest layer of the
atmosphere, which can contribute to changes
in global climate patterns. Global warming
can occur from a variety of causes, both natu-
ral and human induced. In common usage,
"global warming" often refers to the warming
that can occur as a result of increased emis-
sions of greenhouse gases from human activi-
ties. Global warming can be considered part
of global climate change along with changes
in precipitation, sea level, etc.
The impacts from urban heat islands and
global climate change (or global warm-
ing) are often similar. For example, some
communities may experience longer grow-
ing seasons due to either or both phenom-
ena. Urban heat islands and global climate
change can both also increase energy de-
mand, particularly summertime air condition-
ing demand, and associated air pollution and
greenhouse gas emissions, depending on the
electric system power fuel mix.
Strategies to reduce urban heat islands—the
focus of this document, Reducing Urban
Heat Islands: Compendiu m of Strategies—
produce multiple benefits including lower-
ing surface and air temperatures, energy
demand, air pollution and greenhouse gas
emissions. Thus, advancing measures to
mitigate urban heat islands also helps to ad-
dress global climate change.
For more information on global warming see
EPA's Climate Change website, .
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REDUCING URBAN HEAT ISLANDS - DRAFT
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2. How Do Urban Heat Islands
Form?
While many factors contribute to urban
heat island formation (see Table 2), this
chapter focuses on vegetative cover and
surface properties because communities
can directly address these factors with
available technologies. See the "Trees and
Vegetation," "Green Roofs," "Cool Roofs,"
and "Cool Pavement" chapters for detailed
information on these strategies.
2.1 Reduced Vegetation in Urban Areas
In rural areas, vegetation and open land
typically dominate the landscape. Trees
and vegetation provide shade, which helps
lower surface temperatures. They also help
reduce air temperatures through a process
called evapotranspiration, in which plants
release water to the surrounding air, dis-
sipating ambient heat. In contrast, urban
areas are characterized by dry, impervious
surfaces, such as conventional roofs, side-
walks, roads, and parking lots. As cities
develop, more vegetation is lost, and more
surfaces are paved or covered with build-
ings. The change in ground cover results
in less shade and moisture to keep urban
areas cool. Built up areas evaporate less
water (see Figure 5), which contributes to
elevated surface and air temperatures.
Figure 5: Impervious Surfaces and Reduced Evapotranspiration
30% evapotranspiration
40% evapotranspiration
10% runoff
55% runoff
25% shallow
infiltration
10% shallow
infiltration
5% deep
infiltration
25% deep
infiltration
Highly developed urban areas (right), which are characterized by 75%-100% impervious surfaces, have less surface
moisture available for evapotranspiration than natural ground cover, which has less than 10% impervious cover (left).
This characteristic contributes to higher surface and air temperatures in urban areas.
URBAN HEAT ISLAND BASICS - DRAFT
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2.2 Properties of Urban Materials
Properties of urban materials, in particular
solar reflectance, thermal emissivity, and
heat capacity, also influence urban heat
island development, as they determine how
the sun's energy is reflected, emitted, and
absorbed.
Figure 6 shows the typical solar energy that
reaches the Earth's surface on a clear sum-
mer day. Solar energy is composed of ultra-
violet (UV) rays, visible light, and infrared
energy, each reaching the Earth in different
percentages: five percent of solar energy is
in the UV spectrum, including the type of
rays responsible for sunburn; 43 percent of
solar energy is visible light, in colors rang-
ing from violet to red; and the remaining
52 percent of solar energy is infrared, felt
as heat. Energy in all of these wavelengths
contributes to urban heat island formation.
Solar reflectance, or albedo, is the percent-
age of solar energy reflected by a surface.
Much of the sun's energy is found in the
visible wavelengths (see Figure 6); thus,
solar reflectance is correlated with a mate-
rial's color. Darker surfaces tend to have
lower solar reflectance values than lighter
surfaces. Researchers are studying and
developing cool colored materials, though,
that use specially engineered pigments that
reflect well in the infrared wavelengths.
These products can be dark in color but
have a solar reflectance close to that of a
white or light-colored material. (See the
"Cool Roofs" chapter for further discussion
of cool colored roof products.)
Figure 6: Solar Energy versus Wavelength Reaching Earth's Surface
ultraviolet ^—visible
infrared
Solar energy intensity varies over wavelengths from about 250 to 2500 nanometers.
8
REDUCING URBAN HEAT ISLANDS - DRAFT
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Urban areas typically have surface materi-
als, such as roofing and paving, which have
a lower albedo than those in rural settings.
As a result, built up communities gener-
ally reflect less and absorb more of the
sun's energy This absorbed heat increases
surface temperatures and contributes to
the formation of surface and atmospheric
urban heat islands.
Although solar reflectance is the main
determinant of a material's surface tem-
perature, thermal emittance, or emissivity,
also plays a role. Thermal emittance is a
measure of a surface's ability to shed heat,
or emit long-wave (infrared) radiation. All
things equal, surfaces with high emittance
values will stay cooler, because they will
release heat more readily. Most construc-
tion materials, with the exception of metal,
have high thermal emittance values. Thus,
this property is mainly of interest to those
installing cool roofs, which can be metallic.
See the "Cool Roofs" chapter of the com-
pendium for more information.
Another important property that influences
heat island development is a material's heat
capacity, which refers to its ability to store
heat. Many building materials, such as steel
and stone, have higher heat capacities than
rural materials, such as dry soil and sand.
As a result, cities are typically more ef-
fective at storing the sun's energy as heat
within their infrastructure. Downtown met-
ropolitan areas can absorb and store twice
the amount of heat compared to their rural
surroundings during the daytime.10
Radiative and Thermal
Properties—Cool Roofs
and Cool Pavements
Albedo and emissivity are considered
"radiative properties." Heat capacity,
on the other hand, is one of several
"thermal properties" a material can
possess. For thin materials like roof-
ing, which is typically placed over
insulation, reflectance and emittance
are the main properties to consider,
as the heat capacity of a well insu-
lated roof is low. For pavements,
which are thicker than roofing
products and are placed on top of
the ground, which has its own set of
thermal characteristics, designers and
researchers need to consider a more
complex set of factors that include
radiative and thermal properties—
such as heat capacity, thermal con-
ductivity, and density.
URBAN HEAT ISLAND BASICS - DRAFT
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2.3 Urban Geometry
An additional factor that influences urban
heat island development, particularly at
night, is urban geometry, which refers to
the dimensions and spacing of buildings
within a city. Urban geometry influences
wind flow, energy absorption, and a given
surface's ability to emit long-wave radiation
back to space. In developed areas, surfaces
and structures are often at least partially
obstructed by objects, such as neighbor-
ing buildings, and become large thermal
masses that cannot release their heat very
readily because of these obstructions. Espe-
cially at night, the air above urban centers
is typically warmer than air over rural ar-
eas. Nighttime atmospheric heat islands can
have serious health implications for urban
residents during heat waves (see textbox
in Section 3.3, "Factors in Heat-Related Ill-
nesses and Death.")
Table 2: Factors that Create Urban Heat Islands
Researchers often focus on an aspect of
urban geometry called urban canyons,
which can be illustrated by a relatively nar-
row street lined by tall buildings. During
the day, urban canyons can have compet-
ing effects. On the one hand, tall buildings
can create shade, reducing surface and air
temperatures. On the other, when sunlight
reaches surfaces in the canyon, the sun's
energy is reflected and absorbed by build-
ing walls, which further lowers the city's
overall albedo—the net reflectance from
surface albedo plus urban geometry—
and can increase temperatures.11 At night,
urban canyons generally impede cooling,
as buildings and structures can obstruct
the heat that is being released from urban
infrastructure.
Factors Communities are Focusing On
• Reduced vegetation in urban regions: Reduces the natural cooling effect from shade and evapotranspiration.
• Properties of urban materials: Contribute to absorption of solar energy, causing surfaces, and the air above
them, to be warmer in urban areas than those in rural surroundings.
Future Factors to Consider
• Urban geometry: The height and spacing of buildings affects the amount of radiation received and emitted by
urban infrastructure.
• Anthropogenic heat emissions: Contribute additional warmth to the air*
Additional Factors
• Weather: Certain conditions, such as clear skies and calm winds, can foster urban heat island formation.
• Geographic location: Proximity to large water bodies and mountainous terrain can influence local wind patterns
and urban heat island formation.
* Although communities currently can lower anthropogenic heat emissions through energy efficiency technologies
in the building and vehicle sectors, this compendium focuses on modifying vegetative cover and surface properties
of urban materials, as they have long been regarded as urban heat island reduction strategies. An emerging body
of literature on the role waste heat plays in urban heat island formation, though, may lead communities to focus on
anthropogenic heat in the near future.
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The Urban Surface Energy Budget
An energy budget provides an equation that quantifies the balance of incoming
and outgoing energy flows, or fluxes (see Figure 7). The surface energy budgets of
urban areas and their more rural surroundings will differ because of differences in
land cover, surface characteristics, and level of human activity. Such differences can
affect the generation and transfer of heat, which can lead to different surface and air
temperatures in urban versus rural areas. Various elements of the budget include:
• Short-wave radiation is ultraviolet, visible light, and near-infrared radiation from
the sun that reaches the Earth (see Figure 6). This energy is a key driver of urban
heat islands. Urban surfaces, compared to vegetation and other natural ground
cover, reflect less radiation back to the atmosphere. They instead absorb and store
more of it, which raises the area's temperature.
• Thermal storage increases in cities in part due to the lower solar reflectance of
urban surfaces, but it is also influenced by the thermal properties of construction
materials and urban geometry. Urban geometry can cause some short-wave radia-
tion—particularly within an urban canyon—to be reflected on nearby surfaces, such
as building walls, where it is absorbed rather than escaping into the atmosphere.
Figure 7: Urban Surface Energy Budget
Short-wave radiation
Sensible heat
L ong-wave radiation
Anthropogenic heat
Latent heat
Thermal storage
Continued on next page
URBAN HEAT ISLAND BASICS - DRAFT
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The Urban Surface Energy Budget (continued)
• Similarly, urban geometry can impede the release of long-wave, or infrared,
radiation into the atmosphere. When buildings or other objects absorb incom-
ing short-wave radiation, they can re-radiate that energy as long-wave energy, or
heat. However, at night, due to the dense infrastructure in some developed areas
that have low sky view factors (see section 2.3), urban areas cannot easily release
long-wave radiation to the cooler, open sky, and this trapped heat contributes to
the urban heat island.
• Evapotranspiration describes the transfer of latent heat, what we feel as humid-
ity, from the Earth's surface to the air via evaporating water. Urban areas tend to
have less evapotranspiration relative to natural landscapes, because cities retain
little moisture. This reduced moisture in built up areas leads to dry, impervious
urban infrastructure reaching very high surface temperatures, which contribute to
higher air temperatures.*
• Convection describes the transfer of sensible heat, what we feel as temperature,
between the surface and air when there is a difference in temperature between
them. High urban surface temperatures warm the air above, which then circulates
upwards via convection.
• Anthropogenic heat refers to the heat generated by cars, air conditioners, indus-
trial facilities, and a variety of other manmade sources, which contributes to the
urban energy budget, particularly in the winter.
* This change in landscape may differ in regions such as deserts, where moisture may increase in
urban areas if development introduces grass lawns and other irrigated vegetation.
The effects of urban geometry on urban heat
islands are often described through the "sky
view factor" (SVF), which is the visible area
of the sky from a given point on a surface.
For example, an open parking lot or field that
has few obstructions would have a large SVF
value (closer to 1). Conversely, an urban can-
yon in a downtown area that is surrounded
by closely spaced, tall buildings, would have a
low SVF value (closer to zero), as there would
only be a small visible area of the sky.
2.4 Anthropogenic Heat
Anthropogenic heat contributes to atmo-
spheric heat islands and refers to heat
produced by human activities. It can come
from a variety of sources and is estimated
by totaling all the energy used for heating
and cooling, running appliances, transpor-
tation, and industrial processes. Anthro-
pogenic heat varies by urban activity and
infrastructure, with more energy-intensive
buildings and transportation producing
more heat.12 Anthropogenic heat typically
is not a concern in rural areas and during
the summer. In the winter, though, and
year round in dense, urban areas, anthro-
pogenic heat can significantly contribute to
heat island formation.
2.5 Additional Factors
Weather and location strongly influence
urban heat island formation. While commu-
nities have little control over these factors,
12
REDUCING URBAN HEAT ISLANDS - DRAFT
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residents can benefit from understanding
the role they play.
• Weather. Two primary weather char-
acteristics affect urban heat island
development: wind and cloud cover. In
general, urban heat islands form during
periods of calm winds and clear skies,
because these conditions maximize the
amount of solar energy reaching urban
surfaces and minimize the amount of
heat that can be convected away. Con-
versely, strong winds and cloud cover
suppress urban heat islands.
• Geographic location. Climate and
topography, which are in part deter-
mined by a city's geographic location,
influence urban heat island formation.
For example, large bodies of water
moderate temperatures and can gener-
ate winds that convect heat away from
cities. Nearby mountain ranges can ei-
ther block wind from reaching a city, or
create wind patterns that pass through
a city. Local terrain has a greater signifi-
cance for heat island formation when
larger-scale effects, such as prevailing
wind patterns, are relatively weak.
3. Why Do We Care about Urban
Heat Islands?
Elevated temperatures from urban heat
islands, particularly during the summer,
can affect a community's environment
and quality of life. While some heat island
impacts seem positive, such as lengthening
the plant-growing season, most impacts are
negative and include:
• Increased energy consumption
• Elevated emissions of air pollutants and
greenhouse gases
• Compromised human health and comfort
• Impaired water quality.
Wintertime Benefits of
Urban Heat Islands
Communities may benefit from the
wintertime warming effect of urban
heat islands. Warmer temperatures
can reduce heating energy needs and
help to melt snow and ice on roads.
Fortunately, urban heat island mitiga-
tion strategies—for example, trees and
vegetation and green roofs—generally
provide year-round benefits, or their
winter penalty, such as that from cool
roofs, is much smaller than their sum-
mertime benefits.
3.1 Energy Consumption
Elevated summertime temperatures in cities
increase energy demand for cooling and
add pressure to the electricity grid during
peak periods of demand, which generally
occur on hot, summer weekday afternoons,
when offices and homes are running cool-
ing systems, lights, and appliances (see
Figure 8). This peak urban electric demand
increases 1.5 to 2 percent for every 1°F
(0.6°C) increase in summertime tempera-
ture. Steadily increasing downtown temper-
atures over the last several decades mean
that 5 to 10 percent of community-wide de-
mand for electricity is used to compensate
for the heat island effect.13 During extreme
heat events, which are exacerbated by ur-
ban heat islands, the resulting demand for
cooling can overload systems and require a
utility to institute controlled, rolling brown-
outs or blackouts to avoid power outages.
URBAN HEAT ISLAND BASICS - DRAFT
13
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Figure 8: Increasing Power Loads with Temperature Increases
14
Maximum Daily Temp °F (°C)
As shown in this example from New Orleans, electrical load can increase steadily once
temperatures begin to exceed about 68 to 77°F (20 to 25°C). Other areas of the country show
similar demand curves as temperature increases.
3.2 Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases
As discussed in Section 3.1, higher tempera-
tures can increases energy demand, which
generally causes higher levels of air pollu-
tion and greenhouse gas emissions. Cur-
rently, most electricity in the United States is
produced from combusting fossil fuel. Thus,
pollutants from most power plants include
sulfur dioxide (S02), nitrogen oxides (NOx),
particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide
(CO), and mercury (Hg). These pollutants
are harmful to human health and contrib-
ute to complex air quality problems such as
acid rain. Further, fossil-fuel-powered plants
emit greenhouse gases, particularly carbon
dioxide (C02), which contribute to global
climate change.
In addition to increases in air emissions,
elevated air temperatures increase the rate
of ground-level ozone formation, which
is produced when NOx and volatile or-
ganic compounds (YOCs) react in the
presence of sunlight. If all other variables
are equal—such as the level of precursor
emissions or wind speed and direction—
ground-level ozone emissions will be
higher in sunnier and hotter weather.
3.3 Human Health and Comfort
Increased daytime surface temperatures,
reduced nighttime cooling, and higher
air pollution levels associated with urban
heat islands can affect human health by
contributing to general discomfort, respira-
tory difficulties, heat cramps and exhaus-
tion, non-fatal heat stroke, and heat-related
mortality.
Urban heat islands can also exacerbate the
impact of heat waves, which are periods of
abnormally hot, and often humid, weather.
Sensitive populations, such as children,
older adults, and those with existing health
conditions, are at particular risk from these
events. For example, in 1995, a mid-July
heat wave in the Midwest caused more
than 1,000 deaths.15 While it is rare for a
14
REDUCING URBAN HEAT ISLANDS - DRAFT
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Factors in Heat-Related Illnesses and Death
Low income elderly people who live in row homes are at a particular risk for heat-
related health incidents. Living on the upper floor of a typical row home, with a dark
roof, brick construction, and windows on only two sides, could contribute to the risk
of heat-related illness or death during heat waves, as temperatures in these homes
can be extreme.16 These homes often lack air conditioning, especially in areas un-
accustomed to high temperatures. Further, even when air conditioning is available,
residents may not use it for fear of high utility bills.
Social isolation and physical health also contribute to one's vulnerability. Elderly
people, especially, may not have family or friends nearby, may not report to work
regularly, and may lack neighbors who can check on them, leaving them stranded
during extreme heat events. The elderly may also fail to hear news or other warnings
of impending heat waves and recommendations on how to cope. Finally, their bod-
ies may be less able to handle heat stress.
The lack of nighttime relief in air temperatures is strongly correlated with increased
mortality during heat waves. Some studies suggest that these oppressive nighttime
temperatures may be more significant than high maximum daytime temperatures.17
For more information on heat-related health incidents and ways to respond, see the EPA
Excessive Heat Events Guidebook
heat wave to be so destructive, heat-related
mortality is not uncommon. The Centers for
Disease Control estimates that from 1979 to
1999, excessive heat exposure contributed
to more than 8,000 premature deaths in
the United States.18 This figure exceeds the
number of mortalities resulting from hur-
ricanes, lightning, tornadoes, floods, and
earthquakes combined.
3.4 Water Quality
Surface urban heat islands degrade water
quality, mainly by thermal pollution. Pave-
ment and rooftop surfaces that reach tem-
peratures 50 to 90°F (27 to 50°C) higher
than air temperatures transfer this excess
heat to stormwater. Field measurements
from one study showed that runoff from
urban areas was about 20-30°F (11-17°C)
hotter than runoff from a nearby rural
area on summer days when pavement
temperatures at midday were 20-35°F
(11-19°C) above air temperature. When
the rain came before the pavement had
a chance to heat up, runoff temperatures
from the rural and urban areas differed by
less than 4°F (2°C).19 This heated storm-
water generally drains into storm sewers
(see Figure 5) and raises water tempera-
tures as it is released into streams, rivers,
ponds, and lakes. A study in Arlington,
Virginia, recorded temperature increases
in surface waters as high as 8°F (4°C) in
40 minutes after heavy summer rains.20
Water temperature affects all aspects of
aquatic life, especially the metabolism
and reproduction of many aquatic spe-
cies. Rapid temperature changes in aquatic
URBAN HEAT ISLAND BASICS - DRAFT
15
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ecosystems resulting from warm storm-
water runoff can be particularly stress-
ful. Brook trout, for example, experience
thermal stress and shock when the water
temperature changes more than 2 to 4°F (1-
2°C) in 24 hours.21
4. Strategies to Reduce Urban
Heat Islands
Although urban climatologists have been
studying urban heat islands for decades,
community interest and concern regarding
them has been more recent. This increased
attention to heat-related environment and
health issues has helped to advance the
development of heat island reduction strat-
egies, mainly trees and vegetation, green
roofs, and cool roofs. Interest in cool pave-
ments has been growing, and an emerg-
ing body of research and pilot projects are
helping scientists, engineers, and practitio-
ners to better understand the interactions
between pavements and the urban climate.
This compendium Reducing Urban Heat
Islands: Compendiu m of Strategies pro-
vides details about how these strategies
work, their benefits and costs, factors
to consider when selecting them, and
additional resources for communities to
further explore. It presents the multiple
benefits—beyond temperature reduction—
that a community can accrue from advanc-
ing heat island reduction strategies. It also
gives examples of how communities have
implemented these strategies through
voluntary and policy efforts in the "Heat
Island Reduction Activities" chapter. Com-
munities can use this compendium as a
foundation and starting point for under-
standing the nuts and bolts of existing
urban heat island reduction strategies that
communities are currently advancing.
Future policy efforts may focus on en-
couraging strategies to modify urban
geometry and anthropogenic heat in
communities to reduce urban heat is-
lands. Research in this area is on-going,
and there is a growing awareness of the
importance of these factors.
5. Additional Resources
The table on the next page provides ad-
ditional resources on urban heat island
formation, measurement, and impacts.
16
REDUCING URBAN HEAT ISLANDS - DRAFT
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Table 3: Urban Heat Island Resources
Name
Description
General Information
Web Link
EPA's Heat Island Website
Through this website, EPA provides background in-
formation, publications, reports, access to national
webcasts, a database of urban heat island activities,
and links to other resources to help communities
reduce urban heat islands.
International Association
for Urban Climate (IAUC)
This international website is the main forum in which
urban climatologists communicate. Urban climate
resources, including a bimonthly newsletter, and in-
formation on upcoming meetings can be found here.
Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory
(LBNL) Heat Island Group
LBNL provides background information on urban
heat islands and their impacts through this website.
It also presents some of the impacts heat island re-
duction strategies can have on temperature, energy
consumption, and air quality.
National Center of
Excellence - SMART
Innovations for Urban
Climate and Energy
Arizona State University's National Center of Excellence
collaborates with industry and government to research
and develop technologies to reduce urban heat islands,
especially in desert climates. Its website provides back-
ground information on urban heat islands.
Urban Heat Islands:
Hotter Cities
This article explains urban heat islands and presents
solutions to mitigate them.
Measuring Heat Islands and Their Impacts
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
(NASA) and the U.S.
Geological Survey Landsat
Program
The Landsat program is a series of Earth-observing
satellites used to acquire images of the Earth's land
surface and surrounding coastal regions. These
images provide information from which research-
ers can derive surface temperatures and evaluate
urban heat islands.
National Weather Service
The National Weather Service is a source for air
temperature measurements, climate and weather
models, and past and future climate predictions.
The site also has links to excessive heat outlooks,
fatality statistics, historic data on major heat waves,
drought information, and advice on how to mini-
mize the health risks of heat waves.
< www. n ws. n oa a .g o v/>
EPA's Excessive Heat
Events Guidebook
This document is designed to help community officials,
emergency managers, meteorologists, and others plan
for and respond to excessive heat events by highlight-
ing best practices that have been employed to save
lives during excessive heat events in different urban
areas. It provides a menu of options that officials can
use to respond to these events in their communities.
URBAN HEAT ISLAND BASICS - DRAFT
17
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Endnotes
1 Oke, T.R. 1997. Urban Climates and Global Environmental Change. In: Thompson, R.D. and
A. Perry (eds.) Applied Climatology: Principles & Practices. New York, NY: Routledge. pp.
273-287.
2 Oke. T.R. 1987. Boundary Layer Climates. New York, Routledge.
3 Oke, T.R. 1982. The Energetic Basis of the Urban Heat Island. Quarterly Journal of the Royal
Meteorological Society. 108:1-24. The threshold city population for heat islands of the size
2-5°F may be closer to 100,000 inhabitants in some cases. See also Aniello, C., K. Morgan, A.
Busbey, and L. Newland. 1995. Mapping Micro-Urban Heat Islands Using Landsat TM and a
GIS. Computers and Geosciences 21(8):965-69.
4 From: 1) Oke, T.R. 1997. Urban Climates and Global Environmental Change. In: Thompson,
R.D. and A. Perry (eds.) Applied Climatology: Principles & Practices. New York, NY: Rout-
ledge. pp. 273-287. 2) Oke. T.R. 1987. Boundary Layer Climates. New York, Routledge. 3)
Voogt, J.A. and T.R. Oke. 2003. Thermal Remote Sensing of Urban Areas. Remote Sensing of
Environment. 86. (Special issue on Urban Areas): 370-384. 4) Roth, M., T. R. Oke, and W. J.
Emery. 1989. Satellite-derived Urban Heat Islands from Three Coastal Cities and the Utilization
of Such Data in Urban Climatology. Int. J. Remote Sensing. 10:1699-1720.
5 Berdahl P. and S. Bretz. 1997. Preliminary Survey of the Solar Reflectance of Cool Roofing Ma-
terials. Energy and Buildings 25:149-158.
6 Numbers from Voogt, J.A. and T.R. Oke. 2003. Thermal Remote Sensing of Urban Areas. Remote
Sensing of Environment. 86. (Special issue on Urban Areas): 370-384. Roth, M., T. R. Oke, and
W. J. Emery. 1989. Satellite-derived Urban Heat Islands from Three Coastal Cities and the Utili-
zation of Such Data in Urban Climatology. Int. J. Remote Sensing. 10:1699-1720.
7 Oke, T.R. 1982. The Energetic Basis of the Urban Heat Island. Quarterly Journal of the Royal
Meteorological Society. 108:1-24.
8 Oke, T.R. 1982. The Energetic Basis of the Urban Heat Island. Quarterly Journal of the Royal
Meteorological Society. 108:1-24.
9 Oke, T.R. 1997. Urban Climates and Global Environmental Change. In: Thompson, R.D. and
A. Perry (eds.) Applied Climatology: Principles & Practices. New York, NY: Routledge. pp.
273-287.
10 Christen, A. and R. Vogt. 2004. Energy and Radiation Balance of a Central European City. Inter-
national Journal of Climatology. 24(11):1395-1421.
11 Sailor, D.J., and H. Fan. 2002. Modeling the Diurnal Variability of Effective Albedo for Cities.
Atmospheric Environment. 36(4): 713-725.
12 Voogt, J. 2002. Urban Heat Island. In Munn, T. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Global Environmental
Change, Vol. 3. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons.
13 Akbari, H. 2005. Energy Saving Potentials and Air Quality Benefits of Urban Heat Island Miti-
gation. Retrieved 2 Jul. 2008 from .
14 Sailor, D. J. 2002. Urban Heat Islands, Opportunities and Challenges for Mitigation and Adap-
tation. Sample Electric Load Data for New Orleans, LA (NOPSI, 1995). North American Urban
Heat Island Summit. Toronto, Canada. 1-4 May 2002. Data courtesy Entergy Corporation.
18
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15 Taha, H. and L.S. Kalkstein, S.C. Sheridan, and E. Wong. 2004. The Potential of Urban Environ-
mental Controls in Alleviating Heat-wave Health Effects in Five US Regions. Presented at the
American Meteorological Society Fifth Conference on Urban Environment. 25 August. See also
NOAA. 1995. Natural Disaster Survey Report: July 1995 Heat Wave. Retrieved 20 June 2008
from .
16 Kalkstein, L.S. and S.C. Sheridan. 2003. The Impact of Heat Island Reduction Strategies on
Health-Debilitating Oppressive Air Masses in Urban Areas. Prepared for U.S. EPA Heat Island
Reduction Initiative.
17 Kalkstein, L.S. 1991. A New Approach to Evaluate the Impact of Climate upon Human Mortality.
Environmental Health Perspectives 96: 145-50.
18 CDC. 2004. Extreme Heat: A Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety.
Retrieved 27 July 2007 from .
19 Roa-Espinosa, A., T.B. Wilson, J.M. Norman, and Kenneth Johnson. 2003. Predicting the Im-
pact of Urban Development on Stream Temperature Using a Thermal Urban Runoff Model
(TURM). National Conference on Urban Stormwater: Enhancing Programs at the Local
Level. February 17-20. Chicago, IL. Retrieved 17 Jul. 2008 from
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