Urban Protocol Bundle

The urban environment is a reflection of urban dynamics. These dynamics include the surface and atmosphere energy balance, the transfer of air masses, the dispersion of air pollutants, and the energy/heat fluxes between the surface-atmosphere interface.

The areas within urban space are heterogeneous with respect to building and population density, land use/cover, greenery, cooling sinks, the intensity and spatial dispersion of anthropogenic heating sources, rain run-off features, and more.

Learn more about MyNASA Data and the Urban protocol bundle.

The Changing Urban Environment

Urban spaces are typically classified as areas of substantial human infrastructure and high population density. The combination of these two factors can significantly alter the local habitat's natural state and environmental cycles. Furthermore, urban environments can manifest in many different ways throughout the world depending on the available resources and culture of the people constructing it.

In recent years, however, there's been a shift in our perception of the urban environment. Today, we don't think of urban spaces as simply an agglomeration of buildings, but rather as a ‘living organism” that is constantly changing, mostly due to human intervention. With this newfound point of view, it's important to:

  1. Take note of individual and nested systems from the natural environment, the built environment, and the socio-economic environment.
  2. Define the physical, chemical, and environmental processes and interactions that influence and/or control the urban environment.

Given the many small-scale variations caused by the built environment, contributions from citizen scientists are particularly needed to adequately characterize the urban environment. Inside the Urban Bundle, you can find a collection of protocols, prompts, and projects related to these issues and their intersections with various Earth Spheres.

Bundle Overview