One day last July, Ariane Middel and two other Arizona State University researchers headed west on Interstate 10.
One day last July, Ariane Middel and two other Arizona State University researchers headed west on Interstate 10. Squeezed inside their van were MaRTy 1 and MaRTy 2, mobile biometeorological instrument platforms that can tell you exactly what you feel in the summer heat. All five were destined for Los Angeles.
The researchers and their colleagues were headed to L.A. to start investigating how solar reflective coatings on select city streets affected radiant heat and, in turn, pedestrians’ comfort on a typical summer day.
The Los Angeles Bureau of Street Surfaces has pioneered the use of solar reflective coatings in a quest to cool city streets.
The idea is, if you coat a street with a lighter color than traditional pavement black, it will actually lower the surrounding temperatures.
Read more at Arizona State University
Image: This is Ariane Middel with a MaRTy unit on ASU's Tempe campus. (Credit: Photo by Ken Fagan/ASU Now)
