https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25096
*Authors: *David Fork, Elizabeth Jane Wesley, Salil Banerjee, Vishal Batchu, Aniruddh Chennapragada, Kevin Crossan, Bryce Cronkite-Ratcliff, Ellie Delich, Tristan Goulden, Mansi Kansal, Jonas Kemp, Eric Mackres, Yael Mayer, Becca Milman, John C. Platt, Shruthi Prabhakara, Gautam Prasad, Shravya Shetty, Charlotte Stanton, Wayne Sun, Lucy R. Hutyra *29 September 2025* *Abstract* Implementation of cool roofs is a high-impact pathway for mitigating heat at both global and city scales. However, while albedo estimates derived from Sentinel-2 are free and globally-available, the 10 m resolution is insufficient to resolve individual roofs. We present methods for increasing the resolution of Sentinel-2 albedo using high-resolution satellite imagery to produce albedo inferences at a 30-cm scale. Validating against high-resolution aerial albedo measurements over Boulder, CO we find improved precision and accuracy relative to Sentinel-2 with an RMSE of 0.04. Applying these methods to 12 global cities, we evaluate the impacts of three cool roof implementation scenarios. We find that cities can see up to a 0.5°C cooling effect from full scale implementation of cool roofs and prioritizing the largest buildings for implementation is a highly effective policy pathway. While Sentinel-2 produces accurate estimates of albedo change at larger scales, high-resolution inferences are required for prioritizing buildings based on their solar radiation management potential. This research demonstrates a scalable implementation of targeted cool roof interventions in neighborhoods with the greatest potential for heat mitigation by enabling actionable, building-level insights. *Source: Cornell University * -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/geoengineering/CAHJsh99yBGDerVm77sXavNfr3f%2BDpMFur4p9%3D_6zvBzLmErAEQ%40mail.gmail.com.
