Description
Extreme heat events are defined as prolonged periods of excessively high temperatures for multiple consecutive days. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), heat stress is the leading cause of weather-related deaths and can exacerbate accidents, underlying illnesses, and the transmission of some infectious diseases. This intermediate-level training equips participants with the foundational theory and practical skills to leverage thermal infrared (TIR) remote sensing to quantify these risks.
The course begins by establishing the physical principles of TIR, including emissivity and blackbody radiation. While these fundamentals are broadly applicable to numerous applications, this training specifically focuses on using data from NASA’s Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) to identify heat-vulnerable communities and quantify urban heat island (UHI) effects.
In the hands-on component, participants will process ECOSTRESS Land Surface Temperature (LST) data in R – including quality filtering and time-of-day subsetting – and apply the interactive ECOSTRESS LST Downscaling Tool in Google Earth Engine. This tool uses a random forest model to enhance spatial resolution from 70 m to 10 m, translating satellite observations into street-scale thermal maps suitable for urban planning, strategic greenspace placement, and extreme heat early warning systems.
No prior programming experience is required.