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Asphalt stores heat, green spaces cool – the “From Grey to Green” project delivers initial findings
As part of the "From Grey to Green" project, the city of Riedstadt commissioned several drone flights over streets in Wolfskehlen in the summer of 2024. The aim of the project was to investigate the thermal stress on various surfaces – asphalt, gravel, and vegetation – on hot days.
The study examined Heinrich-Heine-Straße and Oppenheimer Straße, where greening measures are planned, as well as Gerhart-Hauptmann-Straße as a control area without planned changes. Initial evaluations show that asphalt surfaces heat up particularly strongly in hot weather and cool down very slowly at night. Measurements revealed nighttime asphalt temperatures exceeding 10 degrees Celsius above the ambient air temperature.
Planted areas were significantly more temperature-stable. Their temperatures were between 5 and 15 degrees Celsius lower than those of adjacent asphalt areas, both during the day and at night. Gravel areas with minimal vegetation fell in between in terms of temperature.
These results demonstrate, even before construction work begins, the potential of consistently greening streets. In the future, the microclimate should be improved through increased vegetation, and the heat buildup in neighborhoods significantly reduced – a crucial component of municipal heat protection.
Another drone survey is planned one to two years after the completion of the greening measures. The aim is then to assess the specific impact of the new vegetation on the local urban climate – with the goal of obtaining sound data for further urban development measures.
(RIEDSTADT – RED/PSR)
Marcel Dogotari from Justus Liebig University Giessen launches the drone. Archive photo: City of Riedstadt
