The high-resolution, 3D model not only details trees' location, type and size, but simulates how local conditions such as street orientation, street width and building height influence their shading benefits.
Improved understanding of how tree placement impacts shading could help planners plant and maintain trees more strategically to maximize climate benefits and distribute them equitably, said Alex Kobald, project lead and associate director of the Design Across Scales Lab in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning.
Tree Folio, NYC explores the street tree and urban canopy as a form of city infrastructure.
The lidar scan is linked to the city's 2015 tree census, which counted more than 666,000 public, curbside trees greening more than 131,000 blocks.
Most importantly, Tree Folio, NYC enables users to simulate the shade any street tree produces over an entire year, computing the extent to which it shades public ground or building facades, or lives entirely in shadow itself-thus adding no net cooling benefit.
"It's not just that there are fewer trees in Ozone Park, but that the trees that are there aren't in the right places," Kobald said.