Name: Heat Island Effect On Fredericksburg, VA Neighborhoods

Year Awarded: 2022

Type Awarded: Scholarship

Details: A study was conducted by a University of Mary Washington student in Fredericksburg, Virginia on the heat island effect in various city neighborhoods. A heat vulnerability index was created for each census block group using social data from the Census Bureau (race, age, and income), environmental data that exacerbates heat (tree coverage, land use, impervious surface, etc.), as well as health data for conditions that make people more vulnerable to extreme heat. The heat vulnerability index was correlated to land surface temperatures which identified that the most vulnerable communities in the city are ~3°C hotter than the least vulnerable communities. A heat mapping campaign coordinated 10 groups of 2 people to map over 100 city miles of air temperatures on one of the hottest days of the 2022 summer to compare with the heat vulnerability index. The results will be presented to the American Geophysical Union meeting in Chicago, Illinois, in December 2022.

Status: Completed: Report written, and results presented to the American Geophysical Union meeting in Chicago, Illinois, in December 2022. Additionally, the student presented her findings at a UMW climate session.