Rahul Somvanshi
Scorching pavement in Phoenix has been mapped by researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, showing that contact with the skin—from a fall, for example—can cause serious burns. Land surface temperatures are shown across a grid of roads and adjacent sidewalks, revealing how urban spaces can turn hazardous during hot weather. A NASA instrument aboard the International Space Station collected data for this visualization of the Phoenix area—the fifth most populous city in the U.S.—at 1:02 PM local time on June 19, 2024. The instrument, called ECOSTRESS (Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station), measures thermal infrared emissions from Earth’s surface.
The image shows how miles of asphalt and concrete surfaces trap heat. The surfaces registered at least 120 degrees Fahrenheit (49 degrees Celsius) to the touch, which is hot enough to cause contact burns in minutes to seconds. In contrast to the hotter surface temperatures seen in Maryvale and Central City, where there are fewer parks and trees, the image also shows cooling effects of green spaces in communities like Encanto and Camelback East. Glynn Halley, a JPL climate researcher, said, “We create these maps to be intuitive to users and help make data more accessible to the public and citizens scientists,” said Glynn Hulley, a JPL climate researcher. “We see them as a vital tool for planning effective heat interventions, such as tree planting, that can cool down the hottest roads and sidewalks.”
The air temperature on June 19 at the airport reached 106 F (43 C). ECOSTRESS has as its primary mission the identification of plants’ thresholds for water use and water stress, giving insight into their ability to adapt to a warming climate. It was launched in 2018. The instrument is also useful for documenting other heat-related phenomena, like patterns of heat absorption and retention. Scientists used a machine-learning algorithm that incorporates data from additional satellites to produce the image of Phoenix. These additional satellites are NASA/USGS Landsat and Sentinel-2.
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The combined measurements were used to “sharpen” the surface temperatures to a resolution of 100 feet (30 meters) by 100 feet (30 meters). ECOSTRESS is an Earth Venture Instrument mission; the program is managed by NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder program at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. In short, NASA’s ECOSTRESS maps burn risk across Phoenix streets.
