Title:  Spatiotemporal variability of heat stress in the Imperial Valley using remote sensing and weather station data

Presenter(s): Stephanie Hurtado-Gonzalez

Date: 10 October 2024 1:05 pm – 1:35 pm ET

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About Speaker: Stephanie Hurtado-Gonzalez

Abstract: Extreme heat is a persistent environmental and public health issue impacting all populations. Current research has vastly explored the impacts of heat stress on urban environments and the Urban Heat Island effect. Yet, more efforts are needed to study the impacts on agricultural lands and farmworkers. The Imperial Valley, CA is no exception to this as it has a desert climate, while also being one of the largest producers of winter vegetable crops. This study is focused on utilizing remote-sensed Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from Landsat 8, in combination with weather station data, to evaluate and predict Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT). As well as, exploring the components of WBGT. Monitoring heat stress through high-resolution remote sensing can address sub-field processes that are challenging to other systems such as MODIS and regional climate models with coarser spatial resolution. Results show that WBGT can be predicted from LST with a root mean square error of 5 F and that wet-bulb temperature (NWB) is the greatest predictor for WBGT. Future work will connect LST and WBGT data with physiological stress measurements, public health records, and interview responses from farmworkers. This research supports NOAA’s mission to understand and predict climate and weather changes by enhancing knowledge of climate change, weather patterns, and heat stress impacts. As well as the National Weather Service’s mission to protect lives and issue appropriately timely alerts to the public and emergency community. Research Questions:

1. How has WBGT changed over the study period? Are there any variations between weather stations?
2. What is the relationship between remotely sensed Land Surface Temperature (LST) and Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT)?
3. Which variable within the WBGT equation plays the most significant role in determining WBGT?

The results are from the NOAA EPP/MSI CSC NERTO graduate internship project that was conducted with NOAA mentor, Alexander Tardy of the National Weather Service office in San Diego, CA. The NERTO aligns with NOAA CSC CESSRST-II’s goal of to understand and predict changes in climate and weather. The NERTO project titled ‘Spatiotemporal Variability of Heat Stress in the Imperial Valley Using Remote Sensing and Weather Station Data‘ deepened the intern’s understanding of addressing societal problems through the integration of remote sensing technologies with multidisciplinary research in environmental systems, socioeconomic drivers, and solutions.