BLOOMINGTON– On Aug. 4, 2024, the City of Bloomington and volunteer residents completed a heat mapping campaign administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and CAPA Strategies. Volunteers placed heat sensors on their cars and drove along five predetermined routes throughout the city at 6 a.m., 3 p.m., and 7 p.m. More than 27,000 temperature and humidity data points were collected and sent to CAPA Strategies for analysis and modeling.
The campaign results are available on the City of Bloomington’s Sustainability website. Residents are invited to read CAPA Strategies’ summary report, which provides key highlights from the study and details the methodologies used to create the map. An interactive website has also been created, allowing residents to view each collected data point and explore the city’s hottest and coolest areas.
Bloomington was among 13 cities worldwide that mapped the hottest neighborhoods in their communities. According to city staff, identifying these areas, called urban heat islands, helps Bloomington take action to reduce the health impacts of extreme heat and provide cooling relief for those living in the hottest areas.
Urban heat islands have fewer trees and more pavement that absorb heat, making them significantly hotter than rural areas. Bloomington’s heat mapping campaign revealed a more than 12-degree difference between the hottest and coolest parts of the city during the afternoon route.
The urban heat island map will be incorporated into Bloomington’s Climate Resilience Plan, which is currently being developed with input from the community. The data will help inform cooling strategies, such as tree plantings, green infrastructure like bioswales and rain gardens, and cool roofs throughout the city. It will also provide a framework for creating cool corridors along routes with high pedestrian and bicycle use. Additionally, the heat map will offer insights for developing public education events.
“The City is grateful to everyone who participated in the heat mapping campaign. Our collective effort to reduce urban temperatures across the city will significantly reduce exposure to extreme heat. The urban heat island map is the first step in building our community’s resilience to climate change,” said Shawn Miya, Assistant Director of Sustainability for the City of Bloomington.
If you have questions about the heat mapping campaign, please email sustain@bloomington.in.gov. To learn more about previous NOAA heat mapping campaigns, visit https://capastrategies.com/capa-heat-watch.
