The Big Urban Heat Island Experiment
How much warmer is the centre of your
nearest town than the surrounding countyside? How is the temperature affected
by parks, rivers, and buildings?
This is the homepage of the Royal Meteorological Society's experiment to
map the heat islands of towns and cities across the UK. We need YOU and all
your friends to help us, if you live within the areas described below. The
data we collect will be available through this site for people to use in schools
etc.
Where and when will we be measuring?
26 November 2008 - Reading, Berkshire: Now complete
(see update below)
January/ February 2009 - Manchester
including all postcodes
starting with M, SK, BL, OL, WN, WA13-15
February/ March 2009 - Edinburgh including all EH postcodes
Coming soon: Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Oxford, Sheffield
and more
Contact Us for more info
What do we need you to do?
On the specified day, measure the temperature outside your house
between 730-830am. Then, text the keyword 'urban' together with
the temperature and the postcode of the place you measured the
temperature to 60066.
For example, your text might read 'urban 5.6 M1 7LL'
Key Points:
- Participants must measure the temperature between 7.30 and 8.30a.m.
on the specified day.
- Any thermometer (with a range of at least -5ºC to +30ºC) can
be used, but the temperature must be measured outside and at least 5m away from
any building. Give the thermometer time to adjust to outside temperatures – this
might mean leaving it outside for a few minutes.
-A good way of making measurements
is with the temperature readout in your car. But make sure you
read the outside temperature! The car must have been outside for
at least 10 minutes before you make the measurement, and we have
found that you get the most accurate measurement if the car has
moved from where it was standing over night at least 5 minutes
before you take the measurement – but don’t forget
that we need the postcode of the place where the measurement was
made!
-The text will cost
your service provider's standard rate.
-The Society will not keep or distribute
mobile phone numbers and does not need your name or address.
Interested?
Send an email to education@rmets.org and
we will let you know when the date has been decided. Otherwise, keep an eye
on the Society website and
local media.
More about urban heat islands
Manchester and environs - showing the Urban Heat Island
Reading Urban Heat Island Experiment Update
How much warmer is the centre of Reading than the surrounding countyside? How is the temperature affected by parks, rivers, and buildings?
Schools that took part include Hemdean House School in
Caversham, The Blue Coat School, Pangbourne College and Leighton Park
A huge thank you to all who took part in the experiment.
What now?
We will be putting the data onto a map over the next weeks and will
be putting up information on our web site about what we learnt. If you
or your school took part and you have any photographs we would love to
put them on our web site. Please send them to webmaster@rmets.org with
your name
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