Mapping of Heat Stress Zones in Indian Cities: A Satellite-Based Approach to Guide Rooftop Cooling Interventions

Karthik Sasihithlu of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in India will map urban heat islands across India and test radiative cooling paint on building rooftops to reduce temperatures, heat-related illnesses, and energy consumption for cooling. Urban centers in India face extreme summer temperatures, worsened by the heat island effect in developed areas relative to rural areas and by heatwaves increasing in frequency because of climate change. Radiant cooling paint, because it does not require structurally modifying buildings, could be an affordable and sustainable intervention to reduce the negative health and economic impacts of heat. Heat islands will be mapped using satellite imagery, and radiative cooling paint will be tested in the severe heat islands identified.