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Urban Heat Island Mapping and Monitoring Platform

Solution Overview

Salvador developed an online platform to map and monitor urban heat islands, supporting the city's public administration in adapting to climate change effects.[1][4][6] This approach combines satellite-based thermal mapping with ground-level temperature measurements to create detailed heat vulnerability assessments across the municipality.[2][3] The initiative represents one of the first comprehensive heat island monitoring campaigns in South America, providing critical data to guide climate adaptation policies and urban planning interventions.[5]

Technical Components

The system integrates multiple data collection methodologies to generate comprehensive thermal maps of Salvador's urban environment. Ground-level measurements were conducted using temperature sensors installed in Civil Defense vehicles, collecting data every 15 seconds across 16 pre-established routes—one on Ilha de Maré and 15 others on the continental part of the city.[2][5] Measurements were taken at three different times daily (between 6-7am, 3-4pm, and 7-8pm) to capture diurnal temperature variations.[2] The research team utilized supercomputers to process a total of 103,980 measurements, converting these numbers into detailed maps through joint analysis with satellite data.[2] The platform leverages URSA (Urban Reporting based on Satellite Analysis), a digital system developed by the IDB City Lab and the Center for the Future of Cities at Tecnológico de Monterrey.[3] URSA uses data captured by the Landsat 8 satellite, whose sensors estimate ground temperature, to identify heat islands as areas where ground temperature shows a higher increase compared to the surrounding rural area.[3] The system allows data export in standard formats compatible with geospatial analysis applications such as QGIS or ArcGIS through a dedicated downloads section.[3]

Implementation Details

Salvador became the first Brazilian city to have its entire continental territory monitored for heat islands through the Heat Watch Campaign, positioning it among the first South American cities to participate in this international monitoring initiative.[5] Data collection was conducted on Thursday, January 23rd, across Salvador's entire continental territory plus Ilha de Maré.[5] The campaign was coordinated by Paulo Zangalli Jr., professor at the Federal University of Bahia (Ufba), with support from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).[5] The implementation team included two faculty members, four associate researchers, six doctoral students, eight master's students, seven undergraduate students, volunteers, and Civil Defense teams.[5] The Heat Watch Campaign was conducted in partnership with the Municipal Secretariat of Sustainability, Resilience, Well-Being and Animal Protection (Secis) and the Civil Defense (Codesal).[5] The initiative was created as part of initiative 46 of the Resilience Strategy of Salvador, with the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Plan formally established in 2020.[1] At the end of December 2020, the city officially launched its first Plan for Mitigation and Adaptation to Climate Change (PMAMC).[4][6] GIZ supported the Brazilian Federal Ministry of Environment in the implementation of the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) through the ProAdapta project, which cooperated with Salvador on reducing climate change-related risks.[7]

Benefits and Impacts

The new ground-based measurement technology promises greater precision in identifying the most vulnerable areas compared to Salvador's existing heat map based on satellite images.[5] The thermal mapping information is fundamental for formulating public policies directed at mitigating extreme heat through expansion of tree-covered areas, implementation of green infrastructure, and urban planning actions aimed at reducing environmental inequalities.[2] The data obtained allows guidance of preventive measures in the most vulnerable areas, with direct impacts on public health, mobility and quality of life.[2] URSA offers the possibility to explore the effect of implementing heat island mitigation strategies, such as adding tree mass or applying reflective material to pavement, allowing the calculation of temperature reduction that could be achieved with each type of intervention.[3] The data from the Heat Watch Campaign contributes to improving the global climate mapping model.[5] URSA's heat island viewer is currently available for any city in Latin America and the Caribbean with a population greater than 100,000 inhabitants.[3]

Climate Adaptation Relevance

The heat island mapping platform directly addresses Salvador's vulnerability to extreme heat events intensified by climate change. Salvador intends to establish a Management System for the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Policy to guarantee transparency, accessibility and measurement of impacts in different sectors.[1] The detailed thermal data enables targeted interventions in areas experiencing the most severe urban heat island effects, supporting the city's broader climate adaptation framework established through the PMAMC.[4][6]

Business Analysis

The IDB has made URSA available to cities as an open-source tool with no access restrictions, which can be downloaded from the IDB's open-source repository with documentation providing detailed instructions on how to install and use it.[3] This open-source distribution model eliminates licensing costs for municipalities while enabling customization for local contexts. The platform's compatibility with standard geospatial analysis applications allows integration with existing municipal GIS infrastructure without requiring proprietary software investments.[3] The availability of URSA for any Latin American and Caribbean city with populations exceeding 100,000 inhabitants creates a regional market of potential adopters, facilitating knowledge transfer and comparative analysis across municipalities.[3] The partnership structure involving international organizations (IDB, NOAA), federal government support (ProAdapta project), municipal agencies (Secis, Codesal), and academic institutions (Federal University of Bahia) demonstrates a collaborative financing and implementation model that distributes costs and technical expertise across multiple stakeholders.[5][7]

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