Student Research Reports
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Case Studies: Effects of Location on Surface Temperatures
Organization(s):Freeport High School
Country:United States of America
Student(s):Wilmer Ajiataz Barrios, Cristian Alcantara Baez, Juana Argueta Hernandez, and Emely Alonzon Collado
Grade Level:Secondary School (grades 9-12, ages 14-18)
GLOBE Teacher:Elodie Bourbon
Contributors:
Report Type(s):U.S. Student Research Symposia (SRS)
Protocols:Surface Temperature
Language(s):
Date Submitted:06/01/2019
The Urban Heat Island Effect suggests that cities are warmer than rural areas because cities contain more infrastructures (e.g. buildings and roads) and lack vegetation (e.g. trees and grass) compared to rural areas. This research focuses on determining whether the location of a school really makes a difference regarding surface temperatures. The research question is “How is surface temperature affected based on the area?” In order to investigate the research question, we measured the surface temperature of the grass in the baseball field at Freeport High School in New York. We used the GLOBE Visualization System to research different schools, which collected surface temperatures of a grassy field and that were located at a similar latitude compared to Freeport High School. In Case Study #1, we compared data from Freeport High School (Residential Urban Area) vs. Mountain View Middle School (Suburban Residential Area). In Case Study #2, we compared data from Waite High School (Residential Urban Area) vs. Perkins High School (Rural Area). Data was collected between October 2017 and March 2019. The results show that the Urban Heat Island Effect generally occurs in Case #1. However, Case #2 shows the opposite with Waite High School (urban area) being overall colder than Perkins High School (rural area). An explanation to this discrepancy could be general climate patterns: Freeport High School is also located along the North Atlantic coast whereas Mountain View School is more inland. In Case #2, both schools are along Lake Erie; however, Perkins High School is on the eastern side of the lake and Waite High school on the western side of the lake. General planetary wind patterns indicate that the wind blows toward the east/northeast at this latitude. Therefore, Perkins High School receives warmer temperature from Lake Erie but not Waite High School. Water has a higher specific heat than land and has a moderating effect on temperatures. The data shows that Freeport High School and Perkins High Schools receive this moderating effect compared to the other two schools.