An Urban Heat Island (UHI) or air pollution are some of the adverse effects of urbanization and concentration of human activities in urban areas. The UHI is a phenomenon characterized by thermal differences between urban areas with relation to non-built up land surrounding them. Most valid indicator used to measure the intensity of UHI is the difference in temperatures between urban and suburban or less developed areas.
Big metropolises can experience the difference in temperatures reaching app. 10 – 15 °C. The intensity of UHI depends on the size of a city, anthropogenic heat emission (man-made heat), particulate and gas pollution, type and properties of soil, structure of buildings, weather conditions or how a city is located.
The UHI’s impact is visible in increased energy consumption, decrease in groundwater quality, increased carbon dioxide emission, increased death risk, overload of power grid, increased consumption of water, negative health effects, overheating, reduced efficiency.
At the same time temperature, weather parameters or air quality measurements based on LPWAN dense sensor networks allow for modelling and visualisation these adverse phenomenons on a map and can help in searching for its sources. This technology supports local governments and citizens in diagnoseing of phenomena sources and monitors changes. It helps to plan proper mitigation strategy. Climate changes and environment pollution are the biggest challenges in contemporary world and thanks to dense sensor networks based on LPWAN technology, it is possible to provide modern and not expensive methods for data acquisition, visualizations and analytics.