Urban Natural Resources and Public Health

Urban forests should be considered a living infrastructure of the city, and they can have positive or negative effects on human health and well-being. Scientists and technical staff at Northern Research Station (NRS) laboratories conduct and analyze various field measurements and develop computer programs to better understand how the urban tree canopy can improve the urban environment. Numerous user-friendly computer tools are also being developed to aid local constituents. Other health issues being researched are included under the Air and Water Quality science topic.

Selected Research Studies

Studying urban forest structure and health
Few people know how many or what kind of trees are found in urban areas, or the effect these trees have on a city's environment and the health and well-being of its inhabitants. Research is aimed at measuring and inventorying our urban forest resources, understanding how urbanization impacts local forest stands, and assisting city planners in developing appropriate management plans.

Quantifying effects and value of urban trees
We use structural data to determine the effects and value of urban forest on air quality, water quality, building energy use, urban climate, ultraviolet radiation, etc. Understanding and quantifying the impact of urban trees is an important prerequisite to managing city vegetation to improve tree health and optimize beneficial forest effects.

Urban climate
What effects do urban tress have on local air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speeds, and how can urban vegetation be configured to increase human comfort and reduce thermal stress? NRS scientists are currently measuring the climatic variables and seeking methods to predict and map differences in the variables, particularly differences in air temperature, caused by trees across a city.

Ultraviolet radiation
Vegetation can significantly reduce ultraviolet (UV) radiation loads reaching the ground. Our scientists study how vegetation designs will modify people's exposure to UV radiation, information that is needed by medical authorities for cancer epidemiology and in advising people on behaviors to avoid inappropriate UV exposure.

Human comfort
Trees modify air temperature, solar and thermal radiation exchanges, wind, and humidity of the air, and all of these influence human comfort. NRS scientists have developed a computer program (OUTCOMES) to predict human-comfort and evaluate the impact of trees on comfort. The program shows the shade pattern of a tree and calculates a human comfort index considering the full range of weather variables, the density of a tree that shades a person, and other features of the surrounding neighborhood.