After weeks of planning and coordination, local partners successfully completed their Santa Fe heat mapping campaign by collecting thousands of temperatures and humidity data points in the morning, afternoon and evening of July 28, 2024.

Using this information, CAPA (Climate, Adaptation, Planning, Analytics) Strategies generated highly detailed models of urban heat across the study region and throughout the day. With this new information, local decision-makers will be better equipped to safeguard human life against the growing impacts of extreme heat.

The study, which measured urban heat in the morning, afternoon, and evening, utilized 28 volunteers on six routes through a 52.6-mile study area.  The volunteers gathered 44,057 measurements during the study period.

Heat Watch is an essential part of a broader ‘heat planning’ framework that provides a comprehensive approach for adaptation to heat.

When situated with local contextual information that describes social, physical and economic conditions. Heat Watch data can help to identify people and places at highest risk of extreme heat and drive appropriate intervention strategies and policies.

The collaborative effort included the City of Santa Fe Planning and Land Use Department, the Environmental Services Department and CAPA Strategies.  

The data collected from the study will be incorporated into ongoing planning efforts including the General Plan and Santa Fe Water 2100 Plan. In the future, the heat island study results will be accessible via the Planning Department’s Digital User Platform. Click here to view the interactive Santa Fe Heat Map.

Click here to download a summary of the report.