ED033-05
The Urban Heat Island Effect: Capturing Community Engagement in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, NY

Friday, 11 December 2020: 19:19
Virtual
Lucy Piacentini, CUNY City College of New York, New York, NY, United States, Mary Anne Woody, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY, United States, Anais Teyton, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, United States, Matthew Bilik, Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn, NY, United States, Hamid Norouzi, New York City College of Technology, CUNY, New York, United States, Reginald Blake, CUNY New York City College of Technology, Civil Engineering Department, Brooklyn, NY, United States and Marlon Rice, Magnolia Tree Earth Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:

In partnership with the Magnolia Initiative community advocacy group in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York, various facets to increase community engagement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) in general, and in the geosciences in particular, were explored. The geoscience partnership focused on the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) which occurs when higher temperatures are experienced in urban areas as compared to their surroundings. This urban/geophysical phenomenon can cause various heat-related illnesses and affect the overall health of urban communities.

Using Landsat 8 and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Aqua satellite data, comparisons were made between the land surface temperatures of Bedford-Stuyvesant and other neighborhoods within New York City. Micro-level survey data was also collected from Bedford-Stuyvesant residents to assess factors that contribute to heat wave exposure and heat-related health risks. An interactive map was created for the community to emphasize how socio-economic and geophysical factors compound to exacerbate the UHIE in the community.

Preliminary results show that Bedford-Stuyvessant is one of the most heat vulnerable communities in New York City and highlight the importance of sharing mitigation and adaptation strategies with community-folk in a manner that they can comprehend and easily implement in a neighborhood bid for sustainability and the amelioration of heat-health risks. The survey and the interactive map have been implemented and have proven to be a positive community engagement tool.

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