BeatTheHeat

Inspiration

We were inspired to do this project because we were interested in creating an educational tool for the UNC EnviroLab on the heat island effect. We want to draw attention to this urgent topic and help community understand the effect of tree coverage on rising temperatures.

What it does

Our project takes in data across Durham and displays a heat density map, overlayed with tree coverage. It allows users to interact with the map, understanding how increasing tree canopy will impact temperatures.

How we built it

We used python to read the dataset and create a linear regression model (-0.0148°C cooling per 1% increase in tree coverage) for tree canopy and temperatures. We then used JavaScript (mapbox) and HTML to load an interactive map, with CSS for styling/aesthetics. We used open source data for additional data on tree coverage. We used AI to understand documentation. We used open meteo weather api in order to draw current temperature data.

Challenges we ran into

We were unfamiliar with the packages needed to load the .nc dataset and operate on it. We were also inexperienced with frontend programming, as well as problems arising with cross collaboration with github.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud we persevered and created a working project with real world applications. We also had fun, which was a main goal.

What we learned

We learned how to implement many more python packages as well as frontend development and collaborating in a group. We also learned a bit about web development with react and usage of APIs through the workshops provided.

What's next for BeatTheHeat

We are excited to expand our project in the future by adding data from more geographical locations, and with more functionality to educate users on what role they can play. We also want to include more fun and interactive programs to draw attention to climate issues.