Urban Heat Vulnerability Index of Helsinki

This analysis evaluates heat vulnerability index in Helsinki. Heat vulnerability is measured as a function of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity.

Exposure refers to the degree to which a city is exposed to very high temperature. Utilized data consists of land surface temperatures from Earth observation satellite data for a time period of four years as well as data from local weather stations to determine the frequency of heat waves.

Sensitivity refers to the level of a human's reaction to high temperatures and depends on individual characteristics such as age and existing health problems. The most valuable data that is analysed is the population density of the elderly people residing in various parts of the city.

Adaptive capacity refers to the city’s ability to cope with the impacts of heat events. In the heat adaptivity or resiliency analysis, data on urban vegetation and moisture are collected from Earth observation satellites for summer of the latest year 2021, these are a well-known indicator of heat resiliency in a city.

The analysis uses the smallest variable in the Greater Helsinki Open Statistical Databases, i.e. subdivisions. Areas located entirely at sea are excluded from the review.

Coordinate systems

• ETRS-GK25 (EPSG:3879)

Vector Layers

• Urban Heat Vulnerability dataset of Helsinki, Finland

Raster layers

• Urban Heat Adaptivity Index
• Urban Heat Exposure Index
• Urban Heat Impact Index
• Urban Heat Vulnerability Index

Vector dataset attributes and their descriptions

• "ID": District IDName: District Name
• "TP": Total Population
• "TP-AG1": Total Population: Age Group under 1
• "TP-AG2": Total Population: Age Group 1 to 6
• "TP-AG3": Total Population: Age Group 7 to 12
• "TP-AG4": Total Population: Age Group 13 to 15
• "TP-AG5": Total Population: Age Group over 64
• "Area": District Area (km2)
• "HVP": Heat Vulnerable Population
• "UHSI": Urban Heat Sensitivity Index
• "Avg-UHVI": Average Urban Heat Vulnerability Index (From Raster)
• "Avg-UHII": Average Urban Heat Impact Index (From Raster)
• "Avg-UHEI": Average Urban Heat Exposure Index (From Raster)
• "Avg-UHAI": Average Urban Heat Adaptivity Index (From Raster)

Raster data source

• Landsat 8 Thermal Data obtained from the months of June, July and August for the years 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021
• Sentinel 2 Vegetation and Moisture Data obtained for the day 26.07.2021

Data sources

• Source of Weather Data for Helsinki from Finnish Meteorological Institute
• Source of Population and their Age-Group Distribution Data of Helsinki from Greater Helsinki Open Statistical Databases
• Source of Landsat 8 Data
• Source of Sentinel 2 Data

The analysis is made by Ecoten - Urban Comfort.