Evaluating Environmental and Human Health Impacts of Urban Heat Island Effects in the Houston Metrop

1
Evaluating Environmental and Human Health Impacts
of Urban Heat Island Effects in the Houston
Metropolitan Area Using Remote Sensing Data

• Matthew A. Clemonds
• Project Geog 610
• Geographical Methods and Theories

2
Houston

• 4th Largest City in the United States
• Population Growth between 1990 and 2000 was 25.8
• Nearly double the national rate of 13
• Only major city in the United States lacking
  zoning ordinances
• Market forces generally drive commercial location
  decisions

Chart from Census 2000, http//www.censusscope.or
g Image from The Houstonian,
http//www.houstonian.freeservers.com
3
Houston

• Located in the Sun-Belt
• Characterized by higher temperatures and
  particularly, long, stagnant, hot summers
• Landscape transformed from
• barely inhabited prairie, grasslands, forest, and
  estuarine marsh
• to sprawling impervious urban surface
• Unsavory history regarding adherence to EPAs
  ozone and air particulate level standards
• EPA 1997-1999 8-Hour ozone standards were not met
  at any of the ozone monitoring stations in the
  Houston Metropolitan area (EPA, 2000)

4
The Oil Business

• 1901 Oil wells that gushed at Spindletop, near
  Beaumont, followed by important strikes at Humble
  and Goose Creek, welded Houston's economy to the
  oil business and made the city an Oil Capital.

Image from The Houstonian, http//www.houstonian.
freeservers.com
5
Houston Transformed

• Oil, Great Ocean Access, and the General Spirit
  of Texans launched Houstons Rapid Growth,
  especially in the last half of the 20th Century

Images from The Houstonian, http//www.houstonian
.freeservers.com
6
Urban Growth / Urban Sprawl

• With all this incredible growth has come
• Urban Sprawl
• Increased impervious urban surface
• Deforestation (Removal of the Tree Canopy)
• Increased need for transportation
• Increase in the amount of Energy needed in the
  Area
• It has created problems

Image from Guerdon Trueblood, http//www.photovau
lt.com
7
The Great Flood of 2001

• Floodwaters block the interchange between
  interstate 45 and Interstate 10 north of downtown
  Houston, Saturday, June 9, 2001. Twenty two
  people died after the remnants of Tropical Storm
  Allison dumped an estimated 28 inches of water on
  the area. Damage is estimated at 4.88 billion.

Image from The Houstonian, http//www.houstonian.
freeservers.com
8
Urban Physical Geography

• Texts on human impacts fall short for the most
  part in regards to urban physical geography
• Detwyler and Marcus, 1972 Coates, 1973, 1976 are
  early exceptions
• They based much of their work on research by
  Chandler, 1965 that focused on urban climates
• This stimulated many physical geographers to
  document the magnitude and character of urban
  heat islands, of precipitation modification, of
  atmospheric pollution, and of air movement
  (Gregory, 2000)
• In 1976 Chandler suggested that our cities must
  be purposefully planned in order to optimize the
  environment of urban areas and to avoid a series
  of structural and functional design failures
  (Gregory, 2000)
• Physical geography can usefully contribute to the
  determination of public policies, with respect to
  the management and development of urbanized areas
  (Chandler et al., 1976)

9
Urban Heat Island Phenomenon

• Urban areas with air and surface temperatures
  higher than the ambient temperatures associated
  with surrounding rural areas. It is quantified by
  ?TTu-Tr, where Tu is the temperature in urban
  areas, and Tr is the temperature in rural areas
  (Montavez et al., 2000)
• Much research illustrates that the urban heat
  island effect ?T can be as high as 6-8F (Matson
  et al., 1978)
• The urban heat island effect was recognized by
  researchers in the 1960s and is dramatically
  revealed by the increases in the annual high
  temperature in the City of Los Angeles since the
  1930s, when tree canopy and vegetation were
  replaced with buildings, parking lots, roads, and
  industrial and commercial complexes (Heat Island
  Group at the Lawrence Berkeley National
  Laboratory, http//eetd.lbl.gov/HeatIsland/)
• Previous research demonstrates that many factors
  contribute to the formation of urban heat island
  phenomena, including dark surfaces that absorb
  more heat from the sun and less vegetation to
  provide buildings shade, intercept solar
  radiation, and cool the air by "evapotranspiration
  " (Henry et al., 1989 Aniello et al., 1995)

10
Urban Heat Island Contributors

• Less Vegetation to
• Provide buildings and homes shade
• Intercept solar radiation
• Cool the air by evapotranspiration
• Convective Stagnation
• Very Little or No Air Circulation

• Dark surfaces like
• Buildings
• Parking lots
• Roads
• Industrial Commercial Complexes
• Even Residential Areas that practice development
  by clearing an area completely before construction

(Henry et al., 1989 Aniello et al., 1995) and
(Mann, 1993)
11
Higher Urban Temperatures Mean
Image from The Houstonian, http//www.houstonian.
freeservers.com
12
Urban Heat Island Effects

• Higher temperatures of urban heat islands
  increase air conditioning energy use
• As power plants burn more fossil fuel, they
  increase both pollution levels and energy costs
• Urban heat islands are not only uncomfortably
  hot, they are also smoggier
• Smog is created by aerial photochemical reactions
  of pollutants
• Reactions are more likely to occur and intensify
  at higher temperatures
• Higher temperatures mean, higher concentrations
  of smog
• Researchers have linked higher temperatures from
  urban heat islands to increased ozone pollution
  (Lo and Quattrochi, 2003)

13
Urban Heat Island Research

• The vast majority of climatological studies of
  urban heat islands have been performed using in
  situ data of automobile transects and weather
  station networks (Voogt and Oke 1997) and
  (Montavez et al., 2000)
• Although in situ data have the advantage of high
  temporal resolution and a long data record, their
  spatial resolution is coarse and poor
• In recent years, remote sensing technology has
  lent itself well to the study of urban heat
  islands
• Remotely sensed data have higher spatial
  resolutions and larger ground coverage
• Remote sensing techniques have been used to
  compare the urban heat island effect to
  vegetation index (Roth et al., 1989), (Gallo and
  Tarpley, 1996), and (Kustas et al., 2003)
• Fractional vegetation cover and surface moisture
  availability have been used to study the impact
  of urban growth at Sate College, PA (Owen et al.,
  1998)
• The influence of urban geometry and morphology on
  the urban heat island effect have been examined
  (Yamshita and Sekine, 1990), (Nichol, 1996), and
  (Sakakibara, 1996)
• Most satellite based urban heat island research
  work is based on two thermal channels of AVHRR
  imagery (Price, 1984 Prata, 1993 Roth et al.
  1989 Streutker, 2003)
• Landsat (Kawashima et al., 2000) and airborne
  ATLAS thermal imagery (Lo et al, 1997 Quattrochi
  et al, 2000) were also used to derive land
  surface temperatures at higher spatial resolution

14
Research Deficiencies and Gaps

• Little research has been done on the analysis of
  urban heat island effects in Houston metropolitan
  area
• An exception is the recent research by Streutker
  (2002, 2003)
• He utilized the time series from AVHHR images to
  depict the development of the urban heat island
  in Houston
• It is a well designed study, and the analysis
  results are convincing and valuable
• However due to the poor spatial resolution (1.1
  km) of AVHRR imagery, the surface temperature
  patterns derived by Streutker (2003) are
  extremely coarse and lack spatial details
• Furthermore, the relationships between urban land
  use change, the formation of urban heat islands,
  and their impacts on environmental quality and
  public health in the Houston Metropolitan area
  have not been investigated by any researcher

15
Research Goal and Objectives

• My research intends to map and model urban heat
  island phenomena of the Houston Metropolitan area
  and examine the impacts of urban heat island
  effects on environmental quality and public health

16
Specific research objectives include

• Deriving a detailed spatial distribution of
  surface temperature for the Houston Metropolitan
  area for the years 1984, 1990, 2000, and 2003
  (possibly more) using the thermal channels of
  satellite (and possibly airborne) data
• Classifying land-use and land-cover with special
  interest paid toward measuring the tree canopy
  for the same years using the multi-spectral
  (visible and infrared) bands of satellite data
• Analyzing the relationship between micro land-use
  and tree canopy with the magnitude and extent of
  urban heat island effect, including the
  identification of primary factors contributing to
  the formation of urban heat island
• Assessing the impacts of urban heat island
  effects on environmental quality and public
  health by analyzing the spatial correlation
  between surface temperature and ground-level
  ozone, air pollution, and respiratory and
  cardiovascular diseases.

?
17
Approach and Methodology

• Will utilize the thermal channels of Landsat TM,
  ETM and ASTER to derive detailed land
  temperature fields and the supervised
  classification method to derive information about
  land cover and tree canopy based on visible and
  infrared channels
• Correlation and regression methods will be used
  to analyze relationships between urban heat
  islands and environmental quality and public
  health
• Flow Chart (Conceptual Model) ?

18
Conceptual Approach / Methodology
?
19
Data Sources

• Landsat TM images for 1984 and 1990 with thermal
  band (120m spatial resolution)
• Landsat ETM for 2000, 2001 and 2002 with thermal
  band (10.4-12.5µm), (60m resolution)
• Both Landsat TM and ETM have 5 visible and
  infrared bands with 30 m spatial resolution
• ASTER images for 2000 and 2001 that have 5
  thermal bands (90m spatial resolution)
• Digital Orthorectified Aerial Photographs for
  1996 and 2002

20
Part of the Houston Metropolitan Area
Landsat TM Image
21
Analysis of Relationships between Land Use, Tree
Canopy, and Heat Islands

• Tree canopy will be isolated and evaluated
  through the Normalized Difference Vegetation
  Index (NDVI) and classification results
• The relationship between urban heat island effect
  and vegetation coverage will be analyzed by
  correlating surface temperature to the NDVI
  through a regression model (Gallo et al., 1995)
• Although residential areas are generally not as
  hot as commercial and industrial areas, newer
  neighborhoods are significantly warmer than older
  neighborhoods that have older (more) tree cover
  (Aniello et al., 1995)

22
Houston Has an Excellent Model

• To study the contrast between
• the popular cut-down everything then build
  development style (Lake Houston Figure 3)
• and a method of development that endeavors to
  preserve the older tree canopy while constructing
  new homes (i.e., The Woodlands Figure 4)

23
Residential Grid
Image from Wernher Kruten, http//www.photovault.
com
24
Can a Ratio Be Found?
25
Thermal Contrast

• Figures 5, The Woodlands, and 6, Lake Houston
  depict the strong contrast in surface temperature
  between these two development styles
• Notice the difference in thermal emissivity
• This research will explore an optimal ratio of
  development to tree cover that might be necessary
  to obtain a leveling effect with concern to the
  urban heat island phenomenon

?
26
Landsat Thermal Images
Figure 5
Figure 6
These images are from the 2000 Landsat ETM
Thermal band 6. Figure 5 is the tree
canopy preserving development of The Woodlands,
and Figure 6 is the popular clear before
construction Method of a residential area near
Lake Houston
27
Expectations

• My investigation on optimal ratios between
  micro-urban heat islands (impervious built-up
  surfaces) and vegetation cover could reveal a
  guide for future developers with a concern toward
  mitigating the negative effects of the urban heat
  island phenomenon
• This research will also provide a scientific
  basis for urban planning programs related to the
  selection of cooler roofing and pavement
  materials, the planting of trees, local building
  design codes, land development style and
  practices

Image from The Houstonian, http//www.houstonian.
freeservers.com
28
References

• Aniello, C., Morgan, K., Busbey, A., and Newland,
  L., 1995. Mapping micro-urban heat islands
  using Landsat TM and a GIS. Computers
  Geosciences, 21(8) pp. 965-969.
• Bornsteins, R. and Lin, Q., 2000. Urban heat
  islands and summertime convective thunderstorms
  in Atlanta Three case studies. Atmospheric
  Environment, 34, 507-516.
• Chandler, T.J., Cooke, R.U., and Douglas, I.,
  1976. Physical problems of the urban
  environment. Geographical Journal, 142, pp.
  57-80.
• EPA, 2000. 1997-1999 8-Hour Ozone County and
  Site Design Values. U.S. Environmental
  Protection Agency Website, http//www.epa.gov/ttn/
  naaqs/ozone/areas/state/aq/aq99site.htm,
  September 6, 2000.
• Francois, C. and Ottle, C., 1996. Atmospheric
  corrections in the thermal infrared global and
  water vapor dependent split-window algorithms-
  applications to ASTER and AVHRR data. IEEE
  Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing,
  34, 457-470.
• Gallo, K.P. and Tarpley, J.D., 1996. The
  comparison of vegetation index and surface
  temperature composites for urban heat island
  analysis. International Journal of Remote
  Sensing, 17, 3071-3076.
• Gregory, Ken J. 2000. The Changing Nature of
  Physical Geography. London Edward Arnold.
• Henry, J.A., Dicks, S.E., Wetterqvist, O.F., and
  Roguski, S.J., 1989. Comparison of satellite,
  ground-based, and modeling techniques for
  analyzing the urban heat island. Photogrammetry
  Engineering and Remote Sensing, 55, 69-76.
• Kawashima, S., Ishida, T., Minomura, M., and
  Miwa, T., 2000. Relations between surface
  temperature and air temperature on a local scale
  during winter nights. Journal of Applied
  Meteorology, 39, 1570-1579.
• Kustas, W., Norman J. M., Anderson M.C., French
  A. N., 2003. Estimating subpixel surface
  temperature and energy fluxes from the vegetation
  index-radiometric temperature relationship.
  Remote Sensing of Environment, 85, 429-440.
• Lo, C.P., and Quattrochi, D.A., 2003. Land-Use
  and Land-Cover Change, Urban Heat Island
  Phenomenon, and Health Implications A Remote
  Sensing Approach. Photogrammetric Engineering
  Remote Sensing, 69(9) pp. 1053-1063.
• Lo, C.P., Quattrochi, Dale A., and Luvall, J.C.,
  1997. Application of high-resolution thermal
  infrared remote sensing and GIS to assess the
  urban heat island effect. International Journal
  of Remote Sensing, 18(2) pp. 287-304.
• Mann, K.J., 1993. Computer simulation of an
  urban heat island using finite elements.
  Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, 35 pp.
  203-209.
• Matson, M., McClain, P., McGinnis Jr., D.,
  Pritchard, J., 1978. Satellite detection of
  urban heat islands. Monthly Weather Review,
  106(12), 1725-1734.

29
References

• Montavez, J.P., Rodriguez, A. and Jiménez, J.I.,
  2000. A study of the urban heat island of
  Granada. International Journal of Climatology,
  20(8), 899-911.
• Nichol, J.E., 1996. High-resolution surface
  temperature pattern related to urban morphology
  in a tropical city a satellite-based study.
  Journal of Applied Meteorology, 35 135-146.
• Owen, T. W. Carlson, T.N. and Gillies, R.R.,
  1998. An assessment of satellite remotely
  sensed land cover parameters in quantitatively
  describing the climatic effect of urbanization.
  International Journal of Remote Sensing, 19,
  1663-1681.
• Prata, A.J., 1993. Land surface temperatures
  derived from the Advanced Very High Resolution
  Radiometer and the Along-track scanning
  Radiometer 1, theory. Journal of Geophysical
  Research, 98, 16689-16702.
• Price, J.C., 1984. Land surface temperature
  measurements from the split window channels of
  the NOAA 7 AVHRR. Journal of Geophysical
  Research, 89, 7231-7237.
• Quattrochi, D.A., Luvall, J.C., Rickman, D.L.,
  Estes, Jr., M.G., Laymon, C.A., and Howell, B.F.,
  2000. A Decision Support Information System for
  urban Landscape Management Using Thermal Infrared
  Data. Photogrammetric Engineering Remote
  Sensing, 66(10) pp. 1195-1207.
• Roth, M., Oke, T.R., and Emery, W.J., 1989.
  Satellite derived urban heat islands from three
  coastal cities and the utilization of such data
  in urban climatology. International Journal of
  Remote Sensing, 10, 1699-1720.
• Sakakibara, Y., 1996. A Numerical Study of the
  Effect of Urban Geometry upon the Surface Energy
  Budget. Atmospheric Environment, 30(3)
  487-496.
• Streutker, D.R., 2002. A remote sensing study
  of the urban heat island of Houston, Texas.
  International Journal of Remote Sensing, 23,
  2595-2608.
• Streutker, D.R., 2003. Satellite-measured
  growth of the urban heat island of Houston,
  Texas. Remote Sensing of Environment, 85,
  282-289.
• Vidal, A., 1991. Atmospheric and emissivity
  correction of land surface temperature measured
  from satellite using ground measurements or
  satellite data. International Journal of Remote
  Sensing, 12, 2449-2460.
• Voogt, J.A., and Oke, T.R., 1997. Complete
  Urban Surface Temperatures. Journal of Applied
  Meteorology, 36(9), 1117-1132.
• Yamshita, S. and Sekine, K., 1990. Some studies
  on the Earths surface conditions relating to the
  urban heat island. Energy and Building, 15-16,
  279-288.
• Yang, X. and C.P. Lo, 2000. Relative
  radiometric normalization performance for change
  detection from multi-date satellite images.
  Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing,
  66(8) 967-980.

30
Downtown Houston Questions
Image from The Houstonian, http//www.houstonian.
freeservers.com