Excessive heat causes more deaths in the United States than any other weather condition, so NOAA’s National Integrated Heat Health Information System and its partner, CAPA Strategies, are organizing citizen volunteers to document urban heat islands — areas where temperatures can rise 10 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in surrounding neighborhoods.
More than 60 Massachusetts communities have mapped their hot spots. Cities use the data to develop heat action plans, add cooling stations, focus urban forestry efforts, and support policy, research and education.
As part of that program, 80 volunteer scientists measured temperatures, humidity and air quality levels along the Mystic River Watershed, which covers 76 square miles in 21 municipalities around Boston, in a project dubbed “Wicked Hot Mystic.”
Boston’s Museum of Science (MOS) partnered with community organizations, including the Resilient Mystic Collaborative, Mystic River Watershed Association (MyWRA) and Metropolitan Area Planning Council, using tools from CAPA Strategies. Officials began recruiting volunteers in January 2021 for the August collection. The campaign involved event outreach, emails to MOS and MyWRA members, social media posts, flyers, and public education.
On Aug. 12 and 13, 2021, volunteers drove or biked through specified locations at 6 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and then at 6 a.m. the next morning. They carried heat, humidity and particulate matter sensors and GPS units that collected data once every second along the route. Each participant received a $25 gift card.
The survey showed temperature differences of up to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. The collected data was used to create high-definition maps of each time period’s results and mapped correlations between ground-level air temperature and both physical and social factors. These included impervious surfaces (i.e., roads and parking lots), tree cover, air quality, and previous redlining by mortgage lenders and government programs.
The data has been presented widely to Massachusetts communities and will inform climate mitigation efforts throughout the region.
4 Tips for Encouraging Citizen Science
Choose a project that’s significant to the community. Citizen science depends on volunteers, so what’s being measured should be something people can get excited about.
Partner. Federal, state and local organizations all have roles in citizen science. Connect local projects with federal initiatives and connect federal projects with community groups on the ground. Nonprofits with technical expertise are also important players.
Take advantage of existing tools. Phone apps like iNaturalist and iSeeChange are easy to use, and they link citizen data with national and international databases. The Citizen Science Alliance helps recruit volunteers and has tools for setting up projects.
Report and act. People need to see that their work is relevant and that the results will be used in concrete ways. It’s important to connect the data collection with real change.
This article appears in our guide, “Decision Intelligence: New Possibilities for Data-Based Decision-Making.” For more about how agencies are using data in practical ways, download it here:
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.