Saturday, July 27, Ramsey County conducted a citizen science urban heat island data collection campaign in partnership with Hennepin County, with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.
The goal of the project was to understand urban heat islands, which are urban areas where the temperature can be significantly higher due to larger areas of concrete and other surfaces that radiate heat along with less tree canopy and green space to mitigate the heat.
Results have now been posted.
Some highlights include:
- Highly developed urban areas, such as downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul, have higher temperatures than other areas through the day and evening.
- Areas with fewer homes where land is used for airports and other industrial structures drive temperatures higher. These pockets of higher temperatures can affect nearby residential areas.
- Street trees, greenspace and water, help to alleviate heat in residential areas. For example, neighborhoods near Lake Harriet in Minneapolis and Vadnais Lake in Vadnais Heights are cooler than areas without shade, greenspace or water.
On the day of the campaign, trained volunteers attached a heat monitoring sensor to their vehicles, and drove a assigned routes within Ramsey or Hennepin county, three times. Ramsey County volunteers returned to a community hub at Roseville Area Middle School.
The data collected helps identify urban heat islands in Ramsey and Hennepin counties. That information will help the counties take action to reduce negative impacts of extreme heat.
Read the Urban Heat Island report (PDF)
Air quality data
In addition to temperature, Ramsey County collected air quality data.
Read the air quality report (PDF)
