The Urban Observatory: A Multi-Modal Imaging Platform for the Study of Dynamics in Complex Urban Systems

Dobler, Gregory; Bianco, Federica B.; Sharma, Mohit S.; Karpf, Andreas; Baur, Julien; Ghandehari, Masoud; Wurtele, Jonathan; Koonin, Steven E.

doi:10.3390/rs13081426

Title: The Urban Observatory: A Multi-Modal Imaging Platform for the Study of Dynamics in Complex Urban Systems

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Abstract

We describe an “Urban Observatory” facility designed for the study of complex urban systems via persistent, synoptic, and granular imaging of dynamical processes in cities. An initial deployment of the facility has been demonstrated in New York City and consists of a suite of imaging systems—both broadband and hyperspectral—sensitive to wavelengths from the visible (∼400 nm) to the infrared (∼13 micron) operating at cadences of ∼0.01–30 Hz (characteristically ∼0.1 Hz). Much like an astronomical survey, the facility generates a large imaging catalog from which we have extracted observables (e.g., time-dependent brightnesses, spectra, temperatures, chemical species, etc.), collecting them in a parallel source catalog. We have demonstrated that, in addition to the urban science of cities as systems, these data are applicable to a myriad of domain-specific scientific inquiries related to urban functioning including energy consumption and end use, environmental impacts of cities, and patterns of life and public health. We show that an Urban Observatory facility of this type has the potential to improve both a city’s operations and the quality of life of its inhabitants.

Authors:

; Bianco, Federica B.; Sharma, Mohit S.; Karpf, Andreas; Baur, Julien; Ghandehari, Masoud; Wurtele, Jonathan; Koonin, Steven E.

Publication Date:: Wed Apr 07 00:00:00 EDT 2021

Research Org.:: New York Univ. (NYU), NY (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)

OSTI Identifier:: 1774723

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1848293

Grant/Contract Number:: AR0000886

Resource Type:: Published Article

Journal Name:: Remote Sensing

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Remote Sensing Journal Volume: 13 Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 2072-4292

Publisher:: MDPI AG

Country of Publication:: Switzerland

Language:: English

Subject:: 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; environmental sciences & ecology; geology; remote sensing; imaging science & photographic technology; multi-wavelength imaging; imaging data acquisition systems; complex urban system dynamics; hyperspectral imaging; infrared imaging; multi-modal data fusion; urban science

Citation Formats


                    Dobler, Gregory, Bianco, Federica B., Sharma, Mohit S., Karpf, Andreas, Baur, Julien, Ghandehari, Masoud, Wurtele, Jonathan, and Koonin, Steven E. The Urban Observatory: A Multi-Modal Imaging Platform for the Study of Dynamics in Complex Urban Systems.  Switzerland: N. p., 2021. 
Web.  doi:10.3390/rs13081426.

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                    Dobler, Gregory, Bianco, Federica B., Sharma, Mohit S., Karpf, Andreas, Baur, Julien, Ghandehari, Masoud, Wurtele, Jonathan, & Koonin, Steven E. The Urban Observatory: A Multi-Modal Imaging Platform for the Study of Dynamics in Complex Urban Systems.  Switzerland.  https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13081426

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                    Dobler, Gregory, Bianco, Federica B., Sharma, Mohit S., Karpf, Andreas, Baur, Julien, Ghandehari, Masoud, Wurtele, Jonathan, and Koonin, Steven E. Wed .  
"The Urban Observatory: A Multi-Modal Imaging Platform for the Study of Dynamics in Complex Urban Systems".  Switzerland.  https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13081426.

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@article{osti_1774723,

  title        = {The Urban Observatory: A Multi-Modal Imaging Platform for the Study of Dynamics in Complex Urban Systems},

  author       = {Dobler, Gregory and Bianco, Federica B. and Sharma, Mohit S. and Karpf, Andreas and Baur, Julien and Ghandehari, Masoud and Wurtele, Jonathan and Koonin, Steven E.},

  abstractNote = {We describe an “Urban Observatory” facility designed for the study of complex urban systems via persistent, synoptic, and granular imaging of dynamical processes in cities. An initial deployment of the facility has been demonstrated in New York City and consists of a suite of imaging systems—both broadband and hyperspectral—sensitive to wavelengths from the visible (∼400 nm) to the infrared (∼13 micron) operating at cadences of ∼0.01–30 Hz (characteristically ∼0.1 Hz). Much like an astronomical survey, the facility generates a large imaging catalog from which we have extracted observables (e.g., time-dependent brightnesses, spectra, temperatures, chemical species, etc.), collecting them in a parallel source catalog. We have demonstrated that, in addition to the urban science of cities as systems, these data are applicable to a myriad of domain-specific scientific inquiries related to urban functioning including energy consumption and end use, environmental impacts of cities, and patterns of life and public health. We show that an Urban Observatory facility of this type has the potential to improve both a city’s operations and the quality of life of its inhabitants.},

  doi          = {10.3390/rs13081426},

  journal      = {Remote Sensing},

  number       = 8,

  volume       = 13,

  place        = {Switzerland},

  year         = {Wed Apr 07 00:00:00 EDT 2021},

  month        = {Wed Apr 07 00:00:00 EDT 2021}

}

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