Current TreeUtah Projects and Volunteer Opportunities Urban Heat Island Pilot Project NASA scientists, TreeUtah and the Office of Energy Services launched the Urban Heat Island Pilot Project on July 13, 1998. A special NASA lear jet equipped with infrared thermal imaging devices flew over the Salt Lake Valley and collected measurements of built and non-built surfaces. This phenomenon occurs when surfaces absorb heat during the day and emit this thermal energy at sundown. As you can guess, the surfaces most responsible for this effect are dark roofs, parking lots and other large, dark paved areas, particularly where few if any trees or vegetation exists. This problem creates discomfort on a human scale, increases our utility costs, and contributes to smog.
Smog results from the reaction between chemicals in the air and heat.
As the only volunteer-based tree planting organization in the state, it's obvious why TreeUtah is involved. However, our role is bigger than just as the tree planting body. TreeUtah received a grant from NASA to fund a part-time position, and along with the Office of Energy Services, Dept. of Air Quality, University of Utah personnel and many others, have met to discuss specific ways to implement effective strategies that can address this problem. In the near future, we will have some of the thermal colored maps and geo-reference maps that are a result of NASA's overflight activities from July 13. These images will depict distinct hot spots, cool areas and everything in between.