Where to go or where not to go—a method for advising communities during extreme temperatures

Abstract

Climate change is producing more extremes and increasing the number and magnitude of risks that impact people’s lives, so identifying and understanding local climate risks is a long but essential process for defining adaptation strategies. The availability of technologies to sensitize and educate people about risks, and to assist people with becoming active observers and monitors of climatic elements has helped to promote permanent surveillance and proactive attitudes towards climatic phenomena that lead to undesirable risks. This paper proposes a methodological approach to guide citizens moving around the city when extreme temperatures occur, minimizing climatic risks and negative health comes, using a very simple method based on Landsat 8 temperature data images at a subsection spatial scale level. The results obtained indicate the places of higher extreme temperatures risks, as well as some of the potential places that people can use to protect themselves. This work demonstrates the value of mapping climatic factors at a local scale and deliver tailored and accurate maps with the places suitable for alleviating bioclimatic stresses and the places that should be avoided.