Impact of Urbanization on the Continental US Surface Climate

Lahouari Bounoua, NASA GSFC, lahouari.bounoua-1@nasa.gov (Presenter)
Ping Zhang, University of Maryland, ping.zhang@nasa.gov (Presenter)
Kurtis John Thome, NASA GSFC, kurtis.thome@nasa.gov

In term of areal extent urbanization appears as a minor land transformation. With respect to biophysical processes however, it represents a significant and long-lasting land disturbance. We combine Landsat- and the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer -based products in a land surface model to assess the impact of urbanization on continental US (CONUS) surface climate.

In terms of land surface (skin) temperatures, we found CONUS impervious areas to be 1.9oC warmer than surroundings during summer and 1.5oC during winter, and expel 12% of precipitation as surface runoff during summer compared to 3.2 % over vegetation. We also found the carbon lost to urbanization at 1.8% of the total, a striking number considering urbanization occupies only 1.06% of CONUS land. These analyses reveal an uneven impact of urbanization across the continent that should inform upon policy options for improving urban growth including heat mitigation and energy use, carbon sequestration and flood prevention.

Presentation: 2015_Poster_Bounoua_25_57.pdf (3415k)

Presentation Type:  Poster

Session:  Theme 4: Human influence on global ecosystems   (Mon 4:30 PM)

Associated Project(s): 

• Bounoua, Lahouari: Combining satellite data and models to assess the impacts of urbanization on the continental United States surface climate. ...details

Poster Location ID: 25