Urban Heat Island Data Collection

North Carolina Botanical Gardens

Clouds-​ John Hession

Trees-​ Pranav Turlapati
Land Cover-​ Grace Ann Wooten
Surface Temperature-​ Tess Sullivan

On October 3rd, 2020, we met at the North Carolina Botanical Gardens to look at
sustainability features and take data using the GLOBE app, IR thermometers, and glass
thermometers. As a group, we explored and admired the beautiful gardens and architecture.
Each person from our group had to become familiar with one of the four measurement protocols:
clouds, trees, land cover, and surface temperature. Below you can find our data and/or a short
description of our findings.

Raw Data Spreadsheet HERE

Clouds
The cloud cover over the Botanical gardens on the morning of Oct. 3rd was minimal, and the
consensus was that the sky was entirely clear. Nevertheless, we recorded the sky in the southern
courtyard of the Totten Center, taking images in all directions, took air temperature readings,
stated our exact geographical location, and confirmed the local weather conditions like rain, hail,
snow, etc., none of which were present.

Location 35.899 Degrees North, 79.034 Degrees West

Time 10:35 AM

Air Temperature 18.9 Degrees Celsius

Cloud Coverage Clear Sky

Sky Color Blue (Not unusually dark or bright blue)

Weather Conditions No Rain, hail, snow, fog, etc.

Trees
The trees varied in height dramatically, remembering the correct course of schedule, we went
from coastal, to piedmont to mountain. The first recording is from the coastal region, I assume
which is why it is shorter than the other two. The coastal regions have less trees to compete with
each other and grow taller. The Piedmont region is plagued by urbanization and
commercialization, decreasing the density of trees over the land area leading to less competition
of trees for sunlight and therefore a lack of need for trees to get taller. Mountain regions are in
need to get taller because of the dense trees in the area therefore why the tree was so tall here. I
had to walk back pretty far to capture the whole tree in the camera.

First Recording

Camera Height 162 cm

Stride Length 71 cm

Number of Steps 21 steps

Distance to Tree 6.3 m

Tree Height 2.29 m

Second Recording
Camera Height 162 cm

Stride Length 71 cm

Number of Steps 15 steps

Distance to Tree 10.66 m

Tree Height 5.97 m

Third Recording
Camera Height 162 cm

Stride Length 71 cm

Number of Steps 17 steps

Distance to Tree 12.08 m

Tree Height 10.37 m

Land Cover
The procedure for land cover called for 50 feet of clear land in all four directions, north, south,
east, and west. Due to there being no clear piece of land that large at the North Carolina
Botanical Gardens, we took the images needed for the GLOBE app in front of the main entrance.
The area was dry as it was on pavement, the sky was bright and clear, and there were no shadows
on the pavement.

Surface Temperature
We omitted the data of one IR thermometer occasionally because it was extreme compared to the
other thermometers.

1st Recording - Full Sun Gravel: 23, 24, 24, 23

- Shade Gravel: 13, 9, 13

2nd Recording - Full Sun Gravel: 22.9, 23

3rd Recording - Full Sun Water System Pavers: 25.3,
25.9

4th Recording (Coastal) - Shade Path: 13.9, 13.4

- Full Sun Path: 21, 21.8

5th Recording (Mountain) - Shade Path: 15.8, 14

- Full Sun Path: 13.2, 13.3

5th Recording (Grass Totten Center) - Full Sun Grass: 23.5, 22

- Full Sun Pavement: 26.2, 27

6th Recording (Lungwort Plant) - Shade: 12, 11.6

- Partial Sun Next To Plant: 11.2, 11.1

We recorded this data under the gazebo at the main entrance.

Air Temperature - Glass Thermometer: 18.7
- Probe: 18.8