Urban Forests for Carbon Sequestration and Heat Island Mitigation

Abstract

Urban forests serve both as a carbon sequestration pool and heat island mitigation tool. Climate change will increase the frequency and severity of urban heat islands. Thus, new urban planning strategies demand our attention. Based on multimodal, remotely sensed data, we map the tree density, its carbon sequestered, and its impact on urban heat islands for Long Island, NY and Dallas, TX. By means of local climate zones we investigate