ECOSTRESS Maps LA's Hot Spots
NASA's ECOSTRESS provides most detailed heatwave map of Los Angeles currently available from space.
NASA's ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) captured new imagery of variations in surface-temperature patterns in Los Angeles County. The first of its kind to be taken by one of the agency's newest Earth-observing mission, it is more detailed than previous imagery and, unlike prior imagery, was acquired at different times of the day.ECOSTRESS measures surface temperature -- the temperature you would feel
if you touched the surface of something -- rather than the air temperature
typically reported by weather stations. The images were acquired throughout the
day between July 22 and Aug. 14 during an extended period of high temperatures
in the Los Angeles area.Cooler temperatures appear in blue, and warmer temperatures are shown in
red. In the image taken July 22 at 4:07 a.m., the hottest (reddest) areas are
dark asphalt surfaces that are unshaded during the day and remain warm
throughout the night. They include freeways, airports, oil refineries and
parking lots. The cool (blue) areas are clouds and higher-elevation mountainous
regions (dark blue).The other images show how different urban surfaces warm up and cool down throughout
the day. The daytime image (upper left) acquired at 3:01 p.m. PDT on July 31
shows how hot the inland regions can get during a period of extreme heat. The Santa
Anita racetrack parking lot was the hottest area. At 147.3° F, the surface
temperature there was hot enough to fry an egg.ECOSTRESS imagery shows surface temperature variations in Los Angeles, California between July 22 and August 14 at different times of day. Hot areas are shown in red, warm areas in orange and yellow, and cooler areas in blue. 

Image credit: NASA/JPL-CaltechFull image and captionImages in the upper right, lower left and lower right -- acquired at 9:26
p.m., 11:43 p.m. and 4:07 a.m., respectively -- show how urban surfaces cool down, with roof
surfaces cooling at a much faster rate than roads and other asphalt surfaces
that have a higher heat capacity. Note that in the lower-right image, reds
correspond with temperatures in the 80s. The top image from the same time shows
a slightly different scale to enhance the contrast between different surfaces --
and reds correspond with temperatures in the 70s.The Los Angeles area is known for its Mediterranean climate and abundant sunshine
but also for its extreme "micro-climate" temperature swings -- from
cooler coastal areas to much warmer inland regions like the San Gabriel Valley.
ECOSTRESS can detect the distribution and pattern variations of that surface heat
over areas the size of a football field.ECOSTRESS launched on June 29 as part of a SpaceX commercial resupply
mission to the International Space Station. The primary mission of ECOSTRESS is
to detect plant health by monitoring Earth's surface temperature. However,
surface temperature data are also useful in detecting other heat-related phenomena,
such as heat waves, volcanoes and fires.JPL built and manages the ECOSTRESS mission for NASA's Earth Science
Division in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
ECOSTRESS is an Earth Venture Instrument mission; the program is managed by
NASA's Earth System Science Pathfinder program at NASA's Langley Research
Center in Hampton, Virginia.For more information on
ECOSTRESS, including these data, visit:https://ecostress.jpl.nasa.govFor more information on
Earth science activities aboard the International Space Station, visit:http://www.nasa.gov/issearthscience