Low-cost urban heat environment sensing device with Android platform for digital twin

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Urban Planning
• Geospatial Technology

Background:

• Effective monitoring of heat and meteorological variables is crucial for urban resident well-being.
• Current methods struggle to capture spatial heat variations in complex urban settings.
• Existing urban heat monitoring techniques are insufficient for creating comprehensive digital twins.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an accessible, low-cost monitoring system for urban heat data collection.
• To enable citizen participation in scientific data acquisition for urban environments.
• To support the development of urban digital twins with real-time environmental information.

Main Methods:

• Integration of a low-cost sensor system into portable devices (kickboards, electric bikes).
• Collection of diverse data including air temperature, surface temperature, humidity, pressure, light intensity, and geophysical features.
• Utilizing citizen-science initiatives for widespread data acquisition.

Main Results:

• A functional, low-cost monitoring system adaptable to various portable devices.
• Demonstrated capability for citizens to collect detailed urban heat and micro-geophysical data.
• Facilitation of data exchange and acquisition for urban digital twin applications.

Conclusions:

• The developed system offers a scalable and cost-effective solution for urban heat monitoring.
• Citizen engagement through portable devices significantly enhances urban environmental data collection.
• This approach contributes to more accurate urban digital twins and informed urban planning.