EnviroAtlas
Use Case
EnviroAtlas contains
ecological, economic and
demographic datasets for
two spatial extents—the
contiguous U.S. and featured
communities. This use case
demonstrates how
EnviroAtlas data can be used
along with other data
sources to explore one
solution for minimizing the
negative impacts of
excessive summer heat due
to urbanization. The analysis
was conducted for Portland,
Oregon and the surrounding
area, and can be applied to
any other location.
www.eDa.20v/enviroatlas
*>EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Using EnviroAtlas to Identify Locations
for Urban Heat Island Abatement
An aerial photo of Portland, Oregon. Source: http://oregonaerialphoto.com
A use case walks through an example demonstrating how EnviroAtlas might be used in different decision contexts. Each use
case presents a real-world scenario, a central issue, and a way to address the issue using EnviroAtlas data, in conjunction with
other available data or resources. Use cases may be hypothetical or based on actual uses of EnviroAtlas.

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Background
>	Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
>	Priority
Neighborhoods
* Street Tree
Locations
Summary
Background
The Concern
Excessive heat in the summer months can be dangerous to human health and increases demand for
water and electricity. In urban areas, cement and asphalt absorb and radiate heat, and are slow to
cool at night, thereby raising nighttime and daytime temperatures. Urban structures also trap the
radiation of heat by blocking the sky. This phenomenon of increased heat in developed areas is
called the urban heat island (UHI). Older people and young children as well as those with existing
health conditions tend to be more vulnerable. Across a city, access to green spaces - areas of grass,
trees and other vegetation in an urban environment - maybe distributed unevenly; thus the UHI
affects some neighborhoods more than others.
One Solution:
Vegetation and trees can help reduce the UHI effect. In certain locales and conditions, trees can cool
sidewalks and provide more comfortable roadways for pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists, among
other benefits like aesthetic appeal, water filtration and uptake. We recognize that trees may
introduce other disadvantages, like debris, reduced near-surface wind speed, and thereby reduced
pollutant dispersion. However, the ability of trees to help reduce the UHI effect can also potentially
lead to significant health benefits, such as:
•	lessened symptoms of respiratory distress and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
•	lower risk of heat stroke, dehydration and heat exhaustion,
•	lower risk of heat-related mortality, especially of the elderly, and
•	fewer anxiety- and mental health-related hospital admissions.
The aesthetic contrast is stark between a tree-less street with above-ground powerlines and a street with a lawn and trees. The
environmental benefits can be different between the two as well. Sources: www.oregonlive.com and www.thedesertecho.com/blog/now
Visit https: //www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-eco-health-relationship-browser to learn more about eco-
health relationships, or https: //www.epa.gov/heat-islands to learn more about urban heat islands.

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> Background
Background
>	Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
>	Priority
Neighborhoods
* Street Tree
Locations
Summary
Objective of Use Case:
For the metropolitan region of Portland, Oregon, this use case demonstrates how city planners
could use EnviroAtlas data with a map of the IJHI to identify areas that might benefit from heat
mitigation through additional street trees. Street trees are one option, and other solutions include
rooftop gardens and green roofs. Using remote sensing and geospatial analysis, we calculate
differences in land surface temperature that we attribute to the urban heat island effect.
Why Focus on Portland?
Multnomah County, which contains the cities of Portland and Gresham, is one the focal areas of US
EPA's Making a Visible Difference in Communities strategic priority. Residents have highlighted the
East Portland area as in need of support and investment to revitalize the community while also
addressing environmental justice concerns. For example, the revitalization plans could incorporate
increased access to green space and sustainable solutions.
One particular issue the community raised is the lack of trees, which contributes to significantly
warmer temperatures in developed areas compared to the surrounding natural areas. In other
words, East Portland is more affected by UH1 than other neighborhoods.
On NE Siskiyou Street, trees and vegetation can keep the streets and sidewalks cooler and are visually appealing.
Source: Kevin Robert Perry, https://www.asla.org/awards/2007/07winners/506_nna.html
Learn more about US EPA's Making a Visible Difference efforts by visiting
https://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/making-visible-difference-communities.

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> Background
> Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
Seeing the Urban Heat Island
To visualize the concern about excessive heating in certain neighborhoods, we created a map of UHI for
the whole Portland metropolitan region. Based on estimated land surface temperature, this map is an
index of summer daytime surface UHI. The thermal information originally comes from Landsat 8. This
map immediately allows us to recognize areas that experience higher heat (darker orange) or stay
cooler (pale orange) in summer. Residents can validate from first-hand experience where the sidewalks
and streets of their neighborhood become very warm in summer.
One might instead choose to collect actual air temperatures to measure the UHI effect. This way, the
effect of UHI would be less pronounced, but air temperature perhaps more closely reflects how
residents experience UHI. For our surface UHI approach, the thermal data from Landsat 8 is free and
publicly available for immediate download. While we can't explicitly calculate how surface temperature
differences translate to differences in ambient air temperatures, we know that they are correlated.
UHI Index
Thermal infrared information from Landsat 8 is used to create an index of the surface urban heat island
effect during summer in Portland.
For a technical description of methods, visit the complementary document:
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-06/documents/technicalguidance uhi.pdf
>	Priority
Neighborhoods
* Street Tree
Locations
>	Summary

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* Background
> Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
Seeing the Urban Heat Island
When we compare the UHI map (left) to the amount of vegetation and trees (right), we find a close
association between the two, which supports our solution of increasing trees in Portland to lessen the
UHI effect. As the amount of vegetation and trees increases, the UHI effect decreases in Portland. The
EnviroAtlas data layer shown below (right) is called "Percent green space within % square kilometer."
This comparison also demonstrates that in lieu of resources to acquire satellite imagery and derive land
surface temperature oneself, planners could reference some measure of vegetation as a proxy indicator
of surface UHI, depending on the location.
UHI Index
Percent Green Space
0-20
21-40
41-60
Water
0	0.25 0.5 Miles
1	I I I I I I I I
0	0.25 0.5 Miles
1	I I I I I I I I
As the amount of vegetation and trees increases, the UHI effect decreases in Portland.
Neighborhoods
> Street Tree
Locations
* Summary

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> Background
> Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
Seeing the Urban Heat Island
We can zoom in to the Rockwood neighborhood where residents are concerned about having fewer
trees and experiencing excessive heat. The Rockwood neighborhood is only 17% covered by trees,
compared to 29% for the Portland metropolitan region overall. The images below support their concern
that the lack of trees can create an LJHI.
The greenspace in Photo A was viewed from the map location marked by the black pin. The parking lot
in Photo B was viewed from the map location marked by the white pin. The highly vegetated greenspace
tends to stay cooler. In contrast, the sparsely-vegetated parking lot tends to be warmer. Generally,
developed places have more impervious surface (e.g. pavement, asphalt), which warms up during the
day and takes longer to cool down at night.
Greenspace
(Google Earth Street View)
- paqifTc -r^
OREGON

Greenspace f 4 WJ* M -
¦,m9

i	* f
* * * G?ISAIft/
Parking lot
G Land Cover
1 •
EVERETT
*
9
Parking lot
(Google Earth Street View)
- Streets
Land Cover Type
] Impervious Surfaces
j Tree/Forest
| Grass/Herbaceous
0 0.05 Miles
	
OREGON
Greenspace
JH Index
~ -10-0
_\ 0.1-12
12.7-17.4
Parking lot
22.1 -26.8
.9 - 45.4
UH ndex
0	0.05 Miles
1	I I l I I I I I
We can see how vegetation-less areas like parking lots tend to be warm while greenspacesfull of trees
and vegetation stay cooler.
>	Priority
Neighborhoods
>	Street Tree
Locations
>	Summary

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>	Background
>	Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
US Census 2010
Block Groups
Mean UHI Index
3.3-14.0
14.1 - 18.4
18.5-21.7
| 21.8-24.4
¦ 24.5-31.4
0	2.5 5 Mile
1	i i i I i i i I
> Priority
Neighborhoods
Priority Neighborhoods
To better target warmer neighborhoods for planting additional trees, we can look at the average UHI
index summarized by census block groups. Seeing the difference among block groups from coolest (pale
orange) to warmest (dark orange), we can more easily identify the block groups that would benefit
most from additional green infrastructure (e.g. street trees, rooftop gardens, green rooftops).
Because block groups are the mapping unit for community information in EnviroAtlas, we can easily
combine this map with additional related EnviroAtlas data layers, such as demographics and public
health information.
> Street Tree
Locations
* Summary
We can summarize the UHI index as its mean per census block group to more easily identify the
neighborhoods that need to be considered for additional street trees.

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>	Background
>	Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
^ Priority
Neighborhoo
Priority Neighborhoods
If we had a particular demographic we intend to assist, we could include related EnviroAtlas data layers
about the residents. As with other health concerns, the elderly and children are some of the most
vulnerable to negative effects on health and well-being due to UHI. Showing two demographic layers
from EnviroAtlas, the maps below display the number of residents over age 70 per block group (left)
and the number of residents under age 13 per block group (right), whom the UH1 abatement actions
will directly benefit.
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over_70	US Census 2010
o 0-72 Block Groups
~ yr, lr7 Mean UHI Index
O 138-237 a3-3-140
O 238-418 14.1 -18.4
^	I 118.5-21.7
( J 419-800 '
w	21.8-24.4
24.5-31.4
A
0	0.5 1 Mile
1	i i i I i i i I
Number of residents US Census 2010
Block Groups
Mean UHI Index
I 13.3-14.0
under age 13
o 0 - 168
O 169-298
O 299-465
O 466-704
Q 705- 1424
A
0	0.5 1 Mile
1	i i i I i i i I
14.1 - 18.4
18.5-21.7
H 21.8-24.4
¦¦ 24.5-31.4
>	Street Tree
Locations
>	Summary
EnviroAtlas provides a variety of demographic and public health data layers for select communities that are provided as a
summary by census block group. Two examples are the number of elderly and child residents.

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>	Background
>	Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
> Priority
Neighborhoods
Priority Neighborhoods
Zooming into East Portland, we can better pinpoint neighborhoods with a high UHI index. From
Portland's Metro Data Research Center, a data layer of the neighborhoods guides us to select the block
groups of most interest to stakeholders working with the US EPA Making a Visible Difference initiative.
By viewing the average summer UHI index for each block group, we can identify a number of block
groups that have a high UHI index. We believe these warmer block groups, shown in red, would greatly
benefit from green infrastructure and revitalization efforts.
WILKES
NORTH GRESHAM
GRESHAM - WILKES EAST
FAIRVIEW
TOWN CENTER
WOOD VILLAGE
GLENFAIR
COLUMBIA
ROCKWOOD
NORTH CENTRAL
GRESHAM - NORTHEAST
CENTENNIAL
GRESHAM - NORTHWEST
GRESHAHI - CENTENNIAL	CENTRAL CITY
1
r
HISTORIC SOUTHEAST
1 /
GRESHAM BUTTE
US Census 2010
Block Groups
Mean UHI Index
3.3-14.0
14.1 - 18.4
18.5-21.7
21.8-24.4
24.5-31.4
N
A
o
0.5
1 Mile
I i i i I i i i I
* Street Tree
Locations
> Summary
With the UHI index summarized by census block group, we can easily identify the warmest neighborhoods
that may benefit most from additional street trees.

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>	Background
>	Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
>	Priority
Neighborhoods
> Street Tree
Locations

Street Tree Locations
Next we incorporate information on the existing trees and built environment. By adding one of several
estimated tree cover layers from EnviroAtlas, we can see Rockwood and adjacent neighborhoods have
very little tree cover along major roadways. We can identify particular stretches of road that would
benefit most from street tree plantings, using the following selection criteria:
•	Block groups that are highly warmed by UHI effects.
•	Busy roadways that have very little existing tree cover.
1AM - WILKES
TOWN CENTER
WO^DVILLAGI
COLUMBIA
ROCKWOOD
LENFAIR
NORTH CliNTRAL
HAM - NORTHEAST
CENTENlJ AL
GRESI
CENTENNIAL
M - NORTI
GRESHAM
CENTRAL CITY
HISTORIC SOUTI- EAST
GRESHAM BUTTE
> Summary
To plan our solution of adding street trees, we want to know where trees already exist. The EnviroAtlas layer "Estimated % tree cover
within 26 m of a road edge" shows us where along major roads there is a lack of tree cover.

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Street T ree Locations
After finding stretches of major roads that lack roadside tree cover in block groups with higher heat
index values, we can look at corresponding locations using Street View on Google Maps for additional
information. The Street View images reveal information about utility lines and existing available
planters in our study area. Local governments can aid street tree planting and redevelopment projects
by burying utility lines, which are often significant obstacles to tree growth. Therefore, to help
determine whether trees can be planted sooner rather than later, we added two criteria for our
candidate locations:
•	The utility lines are underground.
•	There are existing areas that could be planted.
We looked for stretches of major streets with low tree cover, like 82nd street shown here, as places where
additional trees might mitigate UHI. Source: AP, http://www.columbian.com/news/2015/dec/16/advocates-
argue-portland-should-do-more-to-prevent-gentrification/

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>	Background
>	Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
>	Priority
Neighborhoods
Street Tree
Locations


Street Tree Locations
We found that the warmest spots along major roadways occur along Stark Street, Burnside Street,
Glisan Street and 181st Avenue. Because these locations experience the greatest UHI effect, taking action
to plant new street trees here will have the greatest impact through heat mitigation for the community.
In addition to heat mitigation, increased tree coverage can provide other benefits, such as reducing
exposure to harmful UV rays and improving pedestrian safety.
okeshaiv
LKES E
NORTH GRE
3t£N rAIR
Glisan and 181stAve
Stark and 162nd Ave
ROCKWOOD
Percent Tree Cover
Along Busy Roads
75- 100
50-75
25-50
12.7-17.4
17.5-22
22.1 - 26.8
26.9 - 45.4
12.5-25 UHI Index
0 -12.5
10-0
0.1 - 12.6
Burnside and
185th Ave
A
Stark and
182na Ave
0.6 Miles
I
We selected four locations where additional trees might help reduce the UHI effect in
neighborhoods within East Portland.
> Summary


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>	Background
>	Seeing the Urban
Heat Island
>	Priority
Neighborhoods
>	Street Tree
Locations
Summary
Summary
An area's high amount of impervious surface can contribute to higher temperatures compared to the
surrounding natural area, a phenomenon known as an urban heat island (UHI).
Vegetation and trees can help reduce the UHI effect.
Green spaces - areas of grass, trees and other vegetation in an urban environment - may help
reduce the UHI effect, but may be distributed unevenly across a city. Thus, UHI affects some
neighborhoods more than others.
We created a new data layer for Portland, OR and vicinity that is an index of daytime UHI in the
summer months. The source for this information was free and publicly available satellite thermal
infrared imagery (Landsat 8). We provided instructions for how to calculate an UHI index for other
areas in a separate technical document.
The Heat Island effect can be mitigated to a certain extent by the addition of green infrastructure.
Combining our new UHI data layer with others from EnviroAtlas and local agencies, we identified
neighborhoods, census block groups, and sections of major roads that may be good candidates for
adding green infrastructure to decrease the effect of UHI.
Local governments can aid street tree planting and redevelopment projects by burying utility lines,
which are often significant obstacles.
Reducing the UHI in these areas can provide numerous health benefits to the community, including a
lower risk of heat stroke and heat-related mortality. Cooler roadways provide safer, more
comfortable commutes for all.
Additional trees would provide other co-benefits such as air and water pollution reduction and
aesthetic value.
After creating a map of Portland's urban heat island, we combined it with EnviroAtlas data layers to identify four
locations where additional trees might help reduce the urban heat island effect. Source: David Mark, Pixabay.com

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This use case was
developed by Stephanie
Panlasigui, ORISE
Participant, and Jessica
Daniel, Environmental
Protection Specialist, in
support of US EPA's
Making a Visible
Difference in
Communities efforts
with the community in
Portland, Oregon.
Access EnviroAtlas at
www.eDa.20v/enviroatlas
\XOA
EnviroAtlas Use Case

For this use case, we incorporated information from five data layers provided by EnviroAtlas:
•	Portland, OR Meter-scale Urban Land Cover
•	Estimated percent of tree cover within 26m of a road edge
•	Block Groups - US Census 2010 (available for EnviroAtlas communities)
•	Population over 70 years old
•	Population under 13 years old
•	Percent green space within % square kilometer
More EnviroAtlas data layers are available that are related to urban heat islands and the communities
vulnerable to them:
•	Tree cover per capita (m2/person)
•	Average reduction in daytime ambient temperature (Celsius) by tree cover
•	Average reduction in nighttime ambient temperature (Celsius) by tree cover
•	Percent population other than White, non-Hispanic
•	Percent population with income below twice the poverty level
I I
People walk to public transit in Portland. Source: http://trimet.org/projects/pednetwork/index.htm
Learn more about urban heat islands by visiting https://www.epa.gov/heat-islands.
For a technical description of methods, visit the complementary document:
https://www.epa.gov/sites/product.ion/files/2017-06/documents/technicalguidance uhi.pdf

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