Satellite Heat Maps Help Prince George’s County Target Cooling Investments
Scientists from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center partnered with Prince George’s County Department of the Environment and the Health Department to produce downscaled satellite temperature maps that identify heat-vulnerable neighborhoods across the county. The maps integrate Aqua-MODIS and Landsat land surface temperature products with local land-use and health data to guide tree canopy efforts, green infrastructure, cooling centers, and public-health planning aimed at reducing heat-related illness.
A collaborative study between NASA Goddard Space Flight Center scientists and county environmental and health staff produced high-resolution heat maps designed to help Prince George’s County prioritize resilience investments. By downscaling NASA land surface temperature products from Aqua-MODIS and Landsat and combining them with local land-cover, land-use and health data, the project identifies neighborhoods where surface and near-surface temperatures, lack of vegetation and health vulnerabilities overlap.
The research addresses a core challenge for local planners: satellite observations offer broad spatial coverage but at coarse scales, while the county’s in-situ temperature network is sparse. Downscaling the satellite products improves spatial detail and, when integrated with parcel, zoning and health outcome data, exposes micro-scale hot spots that can be missed by regional climate data. These localized heat maps are intended to augment, not replace, ground sensors and community reporting to create a fuller picture of heat risk.
For county decision-makers, the maps link environmental exposure to public-health outcomes. Areas with low tree canopy, extensive impervious surface and higher rates of heat-sensitive hospital visits emerge as priorities for targeted interventions. County staff plan to use the maps in project reviews to inform development conditions, to guide placement of green infrastructure and shade trees, and to site cooling centers and outreach efforts where they will reach the most vulnerable residents.
The public-health implications are significant. Heat remains a leading climate-related hazard that disproportionately affects older adults, outdoor workers, people with chronic medical conditions and households without reliable cooling. Fine-scale heat mapping supports preventative strategies intended to reduce heat-related emergency visits and hospitalizations by directing limited resources to neighborhoods with the greatest need.
Beyond tactical uses, the collaboration highlights equity and governance questions. Mapping makes disparities visible by showing how historic development patterns and unequal tree cover concentrate heat exposure in certain communities. That visibility creates an evidence base for funding requests, policy changes and community-driven planning that prioritize underserved areas.
County officials and collaborators view this work as an operational tool: a way to translate space-based science into concrete local action. Next steps include expanding ground-based measurements, integrating community feedback, and using the maps to evaluate the impact of cooling investments over time. The effort aims to strengthen Prince George’s County’s ability to protect residents from extreme heat through better-targeted, equity-focused public-health and planning decisions.
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