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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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A recent study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison offers one of the most detailed records of the variation in temperature between cities and the surrounding rural areas, known as the urban heat island effect. Cities tend to retain heat more than rural areas because dark surfaces absorb heat in the day and concrete is much slower than vegetation to release heat at night. In areas with more vegetation, plant evapotranspiration helps to cool the air. Other variable environmental factors like wind speed, cloud cover, humidity, soil moisture and snow cover also played a part in the warming effect. Land elevation and lake proximity also altered temperatures in specific areas. "Having better data allows us to look at a lot more variability across the metro area, not just at a period of weather," said Jason Vargo, SCaRP PhD alumnus and researcher at the Nelson Institute Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment. Vargo was not involved in the original research but is working with Jason Schatz of the Nelson Institute on a follow-up study. They are using the neighborhood-specific temperature data to study how the urban heat island effect may relate to hospital admissions and crime in specific parts of the city.
