Abstract:
The heat within Baltimore, like most cities, is neither uniform nor constant, varying with weather conditions and location with highest heat often in the poorest and marginalized communities. Monitoring and understanding this variability is critical for public health and urban planning. However, there is lack of surface weather measurements within the city which prevents needed analysis of causes of spatial variability and the efficacy of active or proposed interventions. Here I will present analysis of the variability of air temperature and humidity in Baltimore using new data collected over the last few years. This includes networks of ibuttons sensors that have been deployed across the city in past summers, and a new growing network of weather stations deployed as part of the Baltimore Social-Environmental Collaborative (BSEC). These data show variation in temperature both at local and neighborhood scale, with spatial variability showing a strong diurnal pattern. The cause of these variations will also be discussed.