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Space station sensor plots Los Angeles hot spots

By Brooks Hays
Surface temperature data collected by ECOSTRESS can help scientists observe how heat waves impact the built environment. Photo by NASA/JPL
Surface temperature data collected by ECOSTRESS can help scientists observe how heat waves impact the built environment. Photo by NASA/JPL

Sept. 19 (UPI) -- NASA's ECOSTRESS instrument is helping scientists plot Los Angeles's hotspots.

Researchers mapped the sprawling metropolis' surface temperatures using data collected by NASA's ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station.

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The ECOSTRESS instrument measures surface temperature, not air temperature. The data can reveal the heat signature of a city's built environment. In a city like Los Angeles, where asphalt and concrete stretch in all directions, a few hot days in a row can send the heat signature soaring.

When an abundance of heat-absorbing materials heat up urban air faster than the rural and suburban surroundings, the phenomenon is called the heat island effect. Previous studies suggest L.A. has one of the strongest heat island effects in the country.

The newest maps, shared online this week by NASA, showcase Los Angeles' heat signature during the heat wave that struck the city early this summer. Scientists used ECOSTRESS data collected between July 22 and Aug. 14 to build the maps. The maps can help scientists understand L.A.'s heat island effect and how it might be mitigated.

On the maps, the yellows, oranges and reds are used to convey higher temperatures, while greens and blues communicate cooler temperatures.

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The maps can help scientists study how different surfaces heat up and cool down. Researchers can observe urban materials in neighborhoods, mostly roofs, cool down more quickly than large highways and roads, which have a greater heat index.

"The Los Angeles area is known for its Mediterranean climate and abundant sunshine but also for its extreme 'micro-climate' temperature swings -- from cooler coastal areas to much warmer inland regions like the San Gabriel Valley," NASA wrote in a news update. "ECOSTRESS can detect the distribution and pattern variations of that surface heat over areas the size of a football field."

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