Covering more than 600 square kilometres of the emirate’s area, as many as 30,000 aerial photos were taken to create a thermal map that helps identify the temperature difference in different locations. The aerial photos were taken during four nights.

The Dubai aerial thermal survey was conducted on behalf of the Geographic Information System (GIS) Department and Environment Department of Dubai Municipality.

Advanced aerial thermal technologyAn aerial flyover was completed using a new generation thermal survey system. The system includes a state of the art thermal survey camera, advanced navigation and positioning system and improved sensor control and user interface.

The thermal cameras captured temperatures on the ground level in different colours, with red indicating the areas with highest temperatures, and green and blue medium and low temperatures respectively.

Identifying solutions to Urban Heat Islands
COWI's interdisciplinary team of climate change specialists furthermore provided recommendations to Dubai Municipality as how to mitigate the so-called urban heat islands (UHI), areas in a city that are significantly warmer than its surrounding areas. In this process, COWI developed an action plan which outlined possible interventions e.g. green building and roofing design, solar shaded parking and cool asphalt.

Close cooperation with partners
The thermal mapping project was conducted in close cooperation with COWI's partners Bluesky and Space Imaging Middle East.

Bluesky carries out the final data analysis and data classification which results in thermograms visualising the spatial variation of heat radiation in the city.

Space Imaging Middle East assisted in cooperation with the local authorities.