Gauging Heat Vulnerability in Southeast Florida: A Multimodal Approach Integrating Physical Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity
Urbanization and warming climate suggest that health impacts from extreme heat will increase in cities, thus locating vulnerable populations is pivotal. However, heat vulnerability indices (HVI) overwhelmingly interpret one model that may be inaccurate or methodologically flawed without considering...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/12/6/242 |
| _version_ | 1797594410293133312 |
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| author | Kevin Cresswell Diana Mitsova Weibo Liu Maria Fadiman Tobin Hindle |
| author_facet | Kevin Cresswell Diana Mitsova Weibo Liu Maria Fadiman Tobin Hindle |
| author_sort | Kevin Cresswell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Urbanization and warming climate suggest that health impacts from extreme heat will increase in cities, thus locating vulnerable populations is pivotal. However, heat vulnerability indices (HVI) overwhelmingly interpret one model that may be inaccurate or methodologically flawed without considering how results compare with other HVI. Accordingly, this analysis applied a multimodal approach incorporating underrepresented health and adaptability measures to analyze heat vulnerability more comprehensively and better identify vulnerable populations. The Southeast Florida HVI (SFHVI) blends twenty-four physical exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity indicators using uncommon statistical weights removing overlap, then SFHVI scores were compared statistically and qualitatively with ten models utilizing alternative methods. Urban areas with degraded physical settings, socioeconomic conditions, health, and household resources were particularly vulnerable. Rural and agricultural areas were also vulnerable reflecting socioeconomic conditions, health, and community resources. Three alternative models produced vulnerability scores not statistically different than SFHVI. The other seven differed significantly despite geospatial consistency regarding the most at-risk areas. Since inaccurate HVI can mislead decisionmakers inhibiting mitigation, future studies should increasingly adopt multimodal approaches that enhance analysis comprehensiveness, illuminate methodological strengths and flaws, as well as reinforce conviction about susceptible populations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:22:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-333b6e7ce7b1428c923c275b5f5b4898 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2220-9964 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T02:22:19Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-333b6e7ce7b1428c923c275b5f5b48982023-11-18T10:43:51ZengMDPI AGISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information2220-99642023-06-0112624210.3390/ijgi12060242Gauging Heat Vulnerability in Southeast Florida: A Multimodal Approach Integrating Physical Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive CapacityKevin Cresswell0Diana Mitsova1Weibo Liu2Maria Fadiman3Tobin Hindle4Department of Geosciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USADepartment of Urban and Regional Planning, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USADepartment of Geosciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USADepartment of Geosciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USADepartment of Geosciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USAUrbanization and warming climate suggest that health impacts from extreme heat will increase in cities, thus locating vulnerable populations is pivotal. However, heat vulnerability indices (HVI) overwhelmingly interpret one model that may be inaccurate or methodologically flawed without considering how results compare with other HVI. Accordingly, this analysis applied a multimodal approach incorporating underrepresented health and adaptability measures to analyze heat vulnerability more comprehensively and better identify vulnerable populations. The Southeast Florida HVI (SFHVI) blends twenty-four physical exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity indicators using uncommon statistical weights removing overlap, then SFHVI scores were compared statistically and qualitatively with ten models utilizing alternative methods. Urban areas with degraded physical settings, socioeconomic conditions, health, and household resources were particularly vulnerable. Rural and agricultural areas were also vulnerable reflecting socioeconomic conditions, health, and community resources. Three alternative models produced vulnerability scores not statistically different than SFHVI. The other seven differed significantly despite geospatial consistency regarding the most at-risk areas. Since inaccurate HVI can mislead decisionmakers inhibiting mitigation, future studies should increasingly adopt multimodal approaches that enhance analysis comprehensiveness, illuminate methodological strengths and flaws, as well as reinforce conviction about susceptible populations.https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/12/6/242extreme heatcomposite indexvulnerabilityurban healthUHISoutheast Florida |
| spellingShingle | Kevin Cresswell Diana Mitsova Weibo Liu Maria Fadiman Tobin Hindle Gauging Heat Vulnerability in Southeast Florida: A Multimodal Approach Integrating Physical Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information extreme heat composite index vulnerability urban health UHI Southeast Florida |
| title | Gauging Heat Vulnerability in Southeast Florida: A Multimodal Approach Integrating Physical Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity |
| title_full | Gauging Heat Vulnerability in Southeast Florida: A Multimodal Approach Integrating Physical Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity |
| title_fullStr | Gauging Heat Vulnerability in Southeast Florida: A Multimodal Approach Integrating Physical Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Gauging Heat Vulnerability in Southeast Florida: A Multimodal Approach Integrating Physical Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity |
| title_short | Gauging Heat Vulnerability in Southeast Florida: A Multimodal Approach Integrating Physical Exposure, Sensitivity, and Adaptive Capacity |
| title_sort | gauging heat vulnerability in southeast florida a multimodal approach integrating physical exposure sensitivity and adaptive capacity |
| topic | extreme heat composite index vulnerability urban health UHI Southeast Florida |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/12/6/242 |
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