Surveys · Kiryat Yam Municipality

Street-level urban heat-island map – Kiryat Yam

Heat factors coded from the aerial photo, shade computed every half hour, and all of it combined into one shading priority map at the level of streets, paths and bus stops.

Coastal neighbourhood: streets, ortho, shade, heat

Client: Kiryat Yam Municipality
Field: Surveys
Source: Aerial photo · height data
Date: 2024-06

Urban heat raster from green to red over buildings, asphalt and vegetation — Urban heat raster: buildings, asphalt, vegetation

The challenge

On a hot afternoon, the difference between a shaded street and an exposed one is felt with every step. To decide where to plant trees or add shade, planners need to see heat at the level of a pavement, a path or a bus stop, and a general city heat map does not answer that question.

Aerial orthophoto of a coastal neighbourhood: roofs, streets and the shoreline — Orthophoto of a coastal neighbourhood

The solution

From the aerial photo we coded everything that drives heat in a street: tree canopies and their heights, shade structures and umbrellas with heights, vegetation, asphalt, pavements and paths, artificial surfaces, hedges, green areas, buildings with heights, and open ground. Using the heights, we cast shade every half hour across the day. A model that combines radiation, sun exposure, shade and the thermal response of each material produced an urban heat-island priority map.

Cumulative shade map over the aerial photo of a coastal neighbourhood — Cumulative shade map over the orthophoto

The outcome

The city now has a map that shows which streets, paths and bus stops run hottest and why, so tree planting and shade can be prioritised in shade-oriented planning. The layers were delivered as GIS and DWG, so planners who work in CAD can use them too.

Delivered

Heat-factor layers: trees, shade structures, vegetation, asphalt, pavements, surfaces and buildings, with heights
Shade casting every half hour across the day
Urban heat-island priority map in GIS and DWG
A0 map poster