Buildings, vegetation, water bodies, etc. all contribute to the formation of heat islands. Buildings and impervious surfaces trap heat, while vegetation and water cool it. In practice, forests, large urban parks and bodies of water remain cooler, while densely built industrial areas are hotter. This phenomenon can vary locally and over time, over days, seasons and years. The Location Europe platform, implemented by GeoE3, provides an opportunity to study the phenomenon and develop solutions on a transnational basis.
“The platform currently provides 3D building data from five European countries. In heat island analysis, for example, 3D building models can be used to estimate building mass and, together with building material data, to derive an estimate of heat accumulation in structures,” says Lassi Lehto, Research Manager at the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute.
“The Location Europe platform also provides data on long-term average annual sunshine hours, making it the most appropriate dataset for studying the heat island phenomenon.”
Lassi Lehto, Finnish Geospatial Research Institute
Cross-border data to support development
In cities, building materials influence how solar radiation is stored, i.e. how it heats buildings. Materials also affect the amount of waste heat, for example. A 3D model of a building provides information about the surface area of the building envelope, which can be used to estimate heat loss through the envelope.
“Elevation and surface models provide additional information on environmental conditions such as wind barriers and shading. These influence the formation of a heat island. The Location Europe platform also provides data on long-term average annual sunshine hours, making it the most appropriate dataset for studying the heat island phenomenon,” says Lehto.
The platform provides a common OGC API query interface for all the necessary data. This makes it easy to retrieve the source data and focus the analysis on the area of interest. From a European business development perspective, it is essential that data is available across borders.
On the other hand, the platform does not provide all the data sources needed to study the heat island phenomenon and develop solutions. These include for example data on traffic volumes and paved road surfaces.
“The platform has data on the centre lines of streets and roads, but not on the actual area coverage of these streets and roads. To some extent, the data could be derived from the road class, but the rest of the paved area is still excluded,” says Lehto. In the future, as new relevant data becomes available, the accuracy of the analysis can be improved.
Source: ilmasto-opas.fi
- Explore the Location Europe platform: locationeurope.eu
- Watch the webinar recording: Location Europe platform for European data users
- Watch a demo video of the Location Europe platform on YouTube
