As a team at the University of the Philippines Resilience Institute YouthMappers (UPRIYM), we recently embarked on a new and exciting endeavor: collecting urban heat data. We were contracted by the World Bank for this project, drawing on the successful urban heat data collection experiences of YouthMappers at Arizona State University. Although my background is rich in fieldwork experience, particularly in collecting building and infrastructure data for disaster risk reduction and management, this was my first foray into the specialized field of urban heat data collection.
Traditionally, my work revolves around collecting the location and documenting the physical attributes of buildings and critical infrastructure to mitigate disaster impacts. This time, however, our task extended beyond merely locating critical facilities and collecting physical attributes; we were tasked with measuring the urban heat in schools and parks in Pasig City. This meant integrating temperature measurements with our usual data collection processes, which included evaluating the condition of buildings.
Kestrel 3000 as the device used for measuring temperature
Lessons Learned Through Experience
Our fieldwork revealed several practical challenges and solutions that will guide future urban heat data collection efforts:
Volunteer Constraints: Our volunteer team, primarily composed of UPRIYM members who are also students from UP Diliman, faced availability challenges on the second day due to the start of the mid-year term. We began with 25 volunteers, but on the second day, we could only manage with 17 volunteers, as many students had new class schedules.
Additionally, we had to navigate the fact that schools are only available for data collection on weekdays, while students are generally more available on weekends. This scheduling conflict required us to adjust our plans and make the most of our available volunteer resources during the weekdays.
Stakeholder Coordination and Logistical Challenges: Initially, we encountered significant security and logistical challenges from the schools we visited. On the first day, these issues were quite pronounced: stringent security measures at some schools made it difficult for our team to enter, and extended courtesy calls with school principals further delayed our data collection process. Additionally, we faced problems with closed rooms and restricted floors, which limited our ability to gather data in specific locations.
Fortunately, by the second day, our improved coordination efforts—thanks to advance notifications to the schools—resulted in much smoother operations. We were able to access classrooms more easily and received valuable assistance from school staff, which greatly facilitated our data collection efforts.
Weather Considerations: We anticipated the frequent afternoon rains that have been common recently. Fortunately, on the second day, the rain started pouring right after we completed our data collection, minimizing disruptions to our schedule.
Device Accuracy: As this was our first attempt at urban heat data collection, we had to navigate uncertainties regarding the accuracy of our measurement devices. This experience underscored the need for thorough validation and calibration of our device, and the data collection techniques.
Looking Forward
This blog post is not intended to detail our methodology but rather to share the field experiences of our first urban heat data collection project. We have learned valuable lessons that will inform future projects and improve our approach to understanding urban heat dynamics. One of the significant insights we gained was the importance of micro-level details. For instance, we discovered that documenting whether windows were open or closed during the field visit could be crucial for understanding heat retention, especially since many schools were closed because the classes had already been concluded in April.
If you are interested in partnering with us or learning more about our work, feel free to send me a message. We are eager to collaborate with others who are passionate about tackling urban heat challenges and advancing resilience strategies.
Stay tuned for more updates on our journey in urban heat research and other exciting projects!
About the author -- Feye Andal is a geospatial analyst and project manager based in Quezon City, Philippines. She focuses on helping purpose-driven organizations create powerful social impacts through open data and free and open-source software (FOSS). She is also serving as a Regional Ambassador for YouthMappers since 2020.