A mapping tool designed to help pedestrians avoid extreme heat found cooler walking routes in more than 95 percent of 1,000 simulated journeys in Brooklyn, New York. Called CoCo: Heat Minimizer, it analyses street temperatures to identify routes that reduce heat exposure.
The tool was developed by researchers from Cornell University, the City University of New York and the University of Washington. It uses public satellite data, which the researchers said allows it to be set up in a new city quickly and at low cost.
In the Brooklyn simulations, the coolest routes had an average surface temperature of 27.6°C, compared with 29.9°C for the shortest routes. The researchers noted that pedestrian comfort depends on factors including surface heat, shade, wind and humidity, and said shaded, tree-lined streets can be several degrees more comfortable than exposed streets.
CoCo has mapped heat exposure along walking routes serving 581 Brooklyn schools and is configured for five cities, including New York, Los Angeles and Dubai. Potential pilot projects are under discussion. City planners could use its street-level heat data to identify hot corridors and consider where tree planting, shade structures or cool pavements may be most useful.
CoCo is one of 100 innovations selected for the Dubai Future Solutions–Prototypes for Humanity showcase, scheduled for 18–21 November.
A second selected project, Greenery Scanner, uses multispectral sensors mounted on vehicles to look for signs of stress in urban trees. Developed at MIT, it has been tested in Boston, Cambridge and Rome. Researchers assessed 84 trees and compared the system’s findings with inspections by licensed arborists and drone surveys.
The vehicle-mounted sensors can observe lower and lateral parts of tree canopies, where early signs of stress may be less visible to satellites or drones. Combining data from vehicles and drones reduced false alarms, suggesting the methods could complement conventional inspections.
Greenery Scanner hardware costs less than US$1,000 per unit. Its developers say the equipment could be fitted to vehicles already travelling through cities, such as maintenance fleets, delivery vans or taxis, enabling repeated monitoring across road networks without dedicated inspection trips or drone flights.
The two projects were selected from thousands of applications involving more than 1,000 universities worldwide. The Dubai programme connects academic researchers with governments, investors and industry partners to support the development of practical applications.
Sources: Cities Today.