Layering tree data, heat risk and demographics information is helping the city implement its Climate Equity Plan.
The city of Austin is using Google Earth satellite data paired with machine learning tools to identify gaps in its tree canopy and prioritize the most vulnerable neighborhoods in need of shade.
As Robyn Griggs Lawrence explains in Smart Cities Dive, "The city’s Climate Action and Resilience department is layering heat severity and demographics data onto Google’s Environmental Insights Explorer geospatial data to identify urban heat islands and test 'cool corridors' that combine tree planting with cool pavements and bus shelters."
The city's Climate Equity Plan calls for achieving 50% tree cover by 2050. Its tree canopy is currently at around 41%. According to Alan Halter, a senior IT geospatial analyst for Austin Climate Action and Resilience, the city's strategy focuses on the equitable distribution of new trees. "Three out of every five trees distributed through programs like NeighborWoods must go to high-priority, low-canopy neighborhoods. This ensures that our resources are helping the communities that need shade and cooling the most."
Read the full story: Who gets shade first? Austin, Texas, uses Google Earth data to decide.
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California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
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Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
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