As heat and associated risks intensify in cities around the world, a new tool developed by researchers in the College of Arts and Architecture's Stuckeman School at Penn State and the Department of Urban Policy at Hunter College aims to shed light on how rising temperatures affect New York City's neighborhoods - and what can be done to protect the most vulnerable communities.
The NYC Urban Heat Portal, a public resource that maps, visualizes and explains the science of urban heat in New York City, was launched on April 15. Designed by a collaborative team of researchers, technologists and environmental advocates, the portal makes complex heat exposure data accessible and actionable for policymakers, planners and community groups.
A key contributor to the project's scientific foundation is Travis Flohr, assistant professor of landscape architecture at Penn State and an affiliate researcher with the University's Institute of Energy and the Environment, who helped develop the spatial framework and methodology for analyzing neighborhood-scale heat risk.
"Understanding the physical makeup of neighborhoods - how much tree canopy, pavement or green infrastructure exists - gives us powerful tools to predict where heat stress is highest," Flohr said. "This portal turns that understanding into accessible, actionable data."
According to Mehdi P. Heris, assistant professor of urban policy and planning at Hunter College and the lead researcher on the project, urban heat is not felt equally across New York City.
"To understand who is most at risk, we need to consider a range of temperature measures - like surface temperature, air temperature and mean radiant temperature - and how they interact with neighborhood infrastructure like tree cover and building materials," Heris said.
The NYC Urban Heat Portal fills a long-standing gap in climate planning by integrating diverse datasets to offer comparable heat profiles for neighborhoods across the five boroughs. A core feature is the Outdoor Heat Exposure Index, which combines environmental factors such as mean radiant temperature, surface temperature, cool roofs, tree canopy and permeable surfaces to estimate localized heat risk.
Users can also explore 10 years - 2013-23 - of daily summer weather data ) to identify areas experiencing the most frequent extreme heat advisories. The portal breaks down key differences in commonly misunderstood metrics - like heat index versus air temperature - and offers downloadable data for research, planning and advocacy.
Developed in collaboration with BetaNYC and funded in part by NASA's Applied Sciences program, the portal reflects input from numerous community-based organizations including WE ACT, El Puente, South Bronx Unite and others who contributed through interviews and workshops during the design process.
"Our goal is to help communities use science to drive change," said Ashley Louie, former chief technology officer at BetaNYC and design lead on the portal. "By making the data transparent and easy to understand, we hope to empower local groups to advocate for more resilient, equitable urban environments."
