SCRANTON, Pa. — The sun beats down on one of the hottest days of the summer in and around Scranton, the heat radiating off the pavement.
Perfect conditions for city and county officials to see just how hot it gets. It's part of the Urban Heat Island Mapping Campaign, coordinated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).
Urban Heat Islands are areas with few trees and more pavement, they can be up to 20 degrees hotter than other neighborhoods.
The purpose of the study is to come up with a plan to reduce the health impacts of extreme heat.
"We have a lot of asphalt concrete, large structures in downtown, so the heat doesn't dissipate as much, so you can see temperatures between three and nine degrees hotter than you might see maybe out in the countryside or in suburban settings," said Chief John Judge, Scranton Fire Department.
Scranton Fire Chief John Judge shows us a heat sensor that he and other citizen scientists have clipped onto vehicles.
"It's capturing some heat, it's capturing moisture content, humidity, and what it will do is send the GPS locations of where all that data is being captured as we drive the route," explained Chief Judge.
Each person will travel a different, mapped-out route throughout Lackawanna and Luzerne counties at three different times during the day.
"We wanted to make sure that we were picking places that were going to be representative of the entire population in the city of Scranton and the community in general," added Chief Judge.
Once all the data is collected, NOAA will analyze it and send it back to officials to determine ways to lower the temperature in certain areas.
"It could be as simple as tree planting, it could be roof construction that doesn't hold the heat as much, it can be coming up with hydration stations," said Chief Judge.
It will be up to county and city officials to decide what projects they choose.
The Scranton and Wilkes-Barre Area is one of 18 communities in 14 states to take part in the Urban Island Mapping Study.
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