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Using Geo-spatial data to Address Extreme Heat and Urban Heat Island Effect in the Greater Toronto Area
This project will help the Clean Air Partnership (CAP) build its own capacity and that of its municipal partners in the Greater Toronto Area Clean Air Council to use location-based information to plan for and address the effects of increased urban temperatures with the objective of improving air quality and public health.
This project has two objectives:
- To determine how geomatics and the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) can inform the work of CAP to help municipal decision-makers address climate change and improve air quality through geomatics
- To determine the needs (data, services, technologies, and policies) of municipal public health and planning staff to address (a) heat-related morbidity and mortality, (b) increased urban temperatures that result from climate change, and (c) the urban heat island effect, which occurs when a metropolitan area warms significantly more than its surroundings as vegetation is replaced by dark surfaces that absorb heat. CAP will also examine how it can leverage CGDI standards to address these needs.
This project will inform the development of a Geo-spatial Decision Support System (GDSS) in the Greater Toronto Area. Planners and public health officials will be able to use this system to help address and respond to the urban heat island effect and extreme heat waves. GTA residents stand to benefit from policies and practices that lessen the potentially harmful and even lethal effects of extreme heat and related poor air quality.
Primary Partner:
The Clean Air Partnership
Toronto,
Ontario;
Partners: City of Toronto Public Health; City of Toronto Planning; Urban Heat Island Advisory Group; Natural Resources Canada Earth Sciences Sector
Funding From GeoConnections: $43,512.00 ( 49.0 %)
Estimated Inception Date: December 1, 2007
Estimated Completion Date: March 31, 2008
Deliverables from this project benefitted the following provinces: Ontario;