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Full-Text Articles in Urban Studies and Planning

Integrating Diverse Perspectives For Managing Neighborhood Trees And Urban Ecosystem Services In Portland, Or (Us), Lorena Nascimento, Vivek Shandas Jan 2021

Integrating Diverse Perspectives For Managing Neighborhood Trees And Urban Ecosystem Services In Portland, Or (Us), Lorena Nascimento, Vivek Shandas

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Municipalities worldwide are increasingly recognizing the importance of urban green spaces to mitigate climate change’s extreme effects and improve residents’ quality of life. Even with extensive earlier research examining the distribution of tree canopy in cities, we know little about human perceptions of urban forestry and related ecosystem services. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the variations in socioeconomic indicators and public perceptions by asking how neighborhood trees and socioeconomic indicators mediate public perceptions of ecosystem services availability. Using Portland, Oregon (USA) as our case study, we assessed socioeconomic indicators, land cover data, and survey responses about …


Integrating Satellite And Ground Measurements For Predicting Locations Of Extreme Urban Heat, Vivek Shandas, Jackson Lee Voelkel, Joseph Williams, Jeremy Hoffman Jan 2019

Integrating Satellite And Ground Measurements For Predicting Locations Of Extreme Urban Heat, Vivek Shandas, Jackson Lee Voelkel, Joseph Williams, Jeremy Hoffman

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The emergence of urban heat as a climate-induced health stressor is receiving increasing attention among researchers, practitioners, and climate educators. However, the measurement of urban heat poses several challenges with current methods leveraging either ground based, in situ observations, or satellite-derived surface temperatures estimated from land use emissivity. While both techniques contain inherent advantages and biases to predicting temperatures, their integration may offer an opportunity to improve the spatial resolution and global application of urban heat measurements. Using a combination of ground-based measurements, machine learning techniques, and spatial analysis, we addressed three research questions: (1) How much do ambient temperatures …


Developing High-Resolution Descriptions Of Urban Heat Islands: A Public Health Imperative, Jackson Voelkel, Vivek Shandas, Brendon Haggerty Sep 2016

Developing High-Resolution Descriptions Of Urban Heat Islands: A Public Health Imperative, Jackson Voelkel, Vivek Shandas, Brendon Haggerty

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Extreme heat events affect the most vulnerable human populations and are a lethal health hazard to urban dwellers globally; in the United States, extreme heat causes more deaths annually than all other weather events and natural hazards combined (1). Previous studies described urban heat islands as isolated, static, monolithic areas of cities. We challenged this contention by hypothesizing that diurnal temperature cycles and diverse landscape features create variation in places that amplify heat (2). A temporal description of urban heat islands would identify populations that are susceptible to heat stress, particularly at night, when most people are asleep and unable …


Daytime Variation Of Urban Heat Islands: The Case Study Of Doha, Qatar, Yasuyo Makido, Vivek Shandas, Salim Ferwati, David J. Sailor Jun 2016

Daytime Variation Of Urban Heat Islands: The Case Study Of Doha, Qatar, Yasuyo Makido, Vivek Shandas, Salim Ferwati, David J. Sailor

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent evidence suggests that urban forms and materials can help to mediate temporal variation of microclimates and that landscape modifications can potentially reduce temperatures and increase accessibility to outdoor environments. To understand the relationship between urban form and temperature moderation, we examined the spatial and temporal variation of air temperature throughout one desert city—Doha, Qatar—by conducting vehicle traverses using highly resolved temperature and GPS data logs to determine spatial differences in summertime air temperatures. To help explain near-surface air temperatures using land cover variables, we employed three statistical approaches: Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Regression Tree Analysis (RTA), and Random Forest …


Micrometeorological Simulations To Predict The Impacts Of Heat Mitigation Strategies On Pedestrian Thermal Comfort In A Los Angeles Neighborhood, Mohammad Taleghani, David J. Sailor, George A. Ban-Weiss Feb 2016

Micrometeorological Simulations To Predict The Impacts Of Heat Mitigation Strategies On Pedestrian Thermal Comfort In A Los Angeles Neighborhood, Mohammad Taleghani, David J. Sailor, George A. Ban-Weiss

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The urban heat island impacts the thermal comfort of pedestrians in cities. In this paper, the effects of four heat mitigation strategies on micrometeorology and the thermal comfort of pedestrians were simulated for a neighborhood in eastern Los Angeles County. The strategies investigated include solar reflective ‘cool roofs’, vegetative ‘green roofs’, solar reflective ‘cool pavements’, and increased streetlevel trees. Aseries of micrometeorological simulations for an extreme heat day were carried out assuming widespread adoption of each mitigation strategy. Comparing each simulation to the control simulation assuming current land cover for the neighborhood showed that additional street-trees and cool pavements reduced …