Urban Heat Island Campaign

adapt2020 policy recommendation
Determining methods to measure, monitor and report local urban heat island conditions (NB-14) is a policy recommendation from the City's first sustainability plan within the Natural and Built Environment chapter.

Find who is affected the most
Our goal is to better understand how heat is distributed across the city so we can prioritize ways to reduce the risks. 

Oklahoma City was selected as one of 18 communities worldwide for NOAA's Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaign in 2023. The project involved help from several community partners and "street scientists" who volunteered to measure air temperatures and air quality conditions.

Cities from prior campaigns used their heat island data and maps to begin strategies to reduce temperatures, like determining places for cooling shelters, creating heat action plans, educating the public and policy makers and planting trees.

"Street Science" requires many people
Thank you to all the volunteers who helped out on August 12th during our mapping campaign data collection day. We appreciate the hundreds who dedicated time to help us gather both temperature and air quality data.

Temperature difference of 14.7°
EPA research shows Urban Heat Islands can be up to 7° hotter than outlying areas, and our study found a nearly 15-degree-difference across the areas we mapped.

Watch the webinar recording for campaign details.

Browse the interactive heat map.

In addition to mapping more than half of our city, our partners helped fund additional research for further insight and recommendations unique to our area, considering local laws and policies.

Summary of Assessments and Services Report(PDF, 24MB)

This report provides a summary of all activities performed including methods, participants, findings, and conclusions. It offers insight into multiple campaigns and initiatives, though the details reported here are not exhaustive. Each of the five activities has a dedicated report or deliverable, including complete accounts of processes and outcomes, which can be referenced for more information.

Heat Mitigation and Adaptation Guidebook(PDF, 16MB)

This document offers a range of cooling strategies including and in addition to trees. The intervention guidebook is intended to be a resource for municipal staff, partners, and community members in OKC who can help initiate and inform conversations about heat mitigation and adaptation in the city. 

The guidebook includes several ways for residents to stay cool and avoid heat illness by making a few changes at home.

Jurisdictional Scan(PDF, 204KB)

This report includes an overview of existing policies, plans, studies, recommendations, codes, and programs that intend to or could address the effects of extreme heat.

Heat Summary Report(PDF, 15MB)

A summary of the process, methodology, and data collected during the Aug.12, 2023 Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaign.

Open-Source Heat Data (external page)

All data collected during the campaign is available on an external page for download via an open source download.

Air Quality Summary Report(PDF, 6MB)

A summary of the process, methodology, and data collected during the Aug.12, 2023 mapping campaign, as well as stationary sensor data collected over the course of two weeks in early September 2023.

Summer Heat Survey Report(PDF, 4MB)

The ‘OKC Summer Heat Survey' examined where residents are most exposed to or impacted by summer heat and air pollution; how residents perceive summer conditions in OKC, heat risk, and personal preparedness; residents’ attitudes about trees, green space, and other heat mitigation or adaptation measures the City might take; and their knowledge of the urban heat island effect and impacts of heat. The results of the survey are presented in this report.

The Heat Vulnerability Index, created by University of Oklahoma researchers in three colleges, helped us narrow which people live in ZIP codes with the highest risk, to prioritize analyzing those results.

Heat Data Webinar Recording: 12/15/2023 

Watch the webinar recording on YouTube.

Scientists with the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program and the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center prepared an historical heat analysis of the City of Oklahoma City to complement the Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaign. This analysis includes historic trends and temperature change forecasts for mid- to late-century.

• Heat Analysis narrative(PDF, 1MB) (PDF)
• Heat Analysis slides(PDF, 2MB) (PDF)

Working with climate scientists to understand historic trends and climate projections helps the City better understand the vulnerabilities and threats it faces and plan to reduce those risks.

Heat affects everyone, but research has shown heat island effects are worse for those who live in low-income neighborhoods or where more people of color live.

Ongoing research could help city leaders prioritize where policies are needed most. Landscape Architecture Professor Wenwen Cheng and her colleagues at the University of Oklahoma received grant money from NASA to develop a Heat Vulnerability Index for the City of Oklahoma City.

The above map shows a portion of the Census tracts that are highly vulnerable to the urban heat island effect in red and orange, and tracts with less vulnerability are shown in shades of yellow. Source: Wenwen Cheng, et. al.

The Heat Vulnerability Index uses data sources from 2015 through 2020 that considers three groups of factors:

1. Sensitivity: socioeconomic, demographic, health, disabilities, chronic disease rate, language barriers, rentals vs ownership, rates of insurance, and access to transportation.
2. Adaptive Capacity: living conditions, green space, access to cooling centers, density and health of vegetation, urban density, and phone/internet/computer access.
3. Exposure: meteorological data, land surface temperature, surface albedo, human physiological and physical factors.

Dr. Cheng and her colleagues titled the project, “A Spatial Decision Support System for Identifying Heat Vulnerability Based on a Comprehensive Energy Budget Model and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis in Oklahoma City, OK.”

View or download the interactive maps by study year on data.okc.gov, also linked below:

• 2015 Heat Vulnerability Index
• 2016 Heat Vulnerability Index
• 2017 Heat Vulnerability Index
• 2018 Heat Vulnerability Index
• 2019 Heat Vulnerability Index
• 2020 Heat Vulnerability Index

The City’s Office of Sustainability and researchers with three colleges from OU hosted an education and awareness workshop. OU’s Colleges of Landscape Architecture, Public Health and Geography are also studying heat vulnerability in Oklahoma City.

The first workshop was held on Saturday July 8 at The Auditorium at The Douglass, 600 N High Ave. 

View presentation slides(PDF, 18MB). (PDF)

Community members provided feedback to researchers when asked what cooling solutions they want in their neighborhood.

Community support expanded our campaign and our research.
In Oklahoma City, funding support for the campaign and complimentary add-on reports, surveys, and summaries was provided by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments, and the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.