Tree canopy and heat maps – Ashbourne
The canopy cover and radiant temperature visualisation maps for Ashbourne are shown below:
Aerial imagery showing Ashbourne’s canopy coverage on the left, and the heat map of the township (radiant temperature visualisation) on the right. Data was captured on 26 January 2022. © Active Green Services
In 2022, Council commissioned a study to establish a benchmark of tree canopy cover and radiant temperature visualisation (‘heat maps’) across 11 townships in Alexandrina. The study assessed high-resolution satellite imagery using artificial intelligence. Thermal imaging (infrared) was also acquired and correlated to the canopy layer by linking the data geospatially via an ESRI© application.
The overall canopy cover averaged 17.6% across Alexandrina’s 11 townships; ranging from 11.7% to 49.3%.
The study showed that in 2022 Ashbourne had with 49.3% the highest canopy cover of all 11 townships analysed across Alexandrina.
The results for Ashbourne are as follows:
Tree canopy cover across Ashbourne
The township total area of Ashbourne is 75.31 hectares (ha), with 37.12ha identified as the total canopy area. This equates to 49.3% total canopy coverage in Ashbourne.
Tree canopy cover on private land
Most of the land in Ashbourne is privately owned: 68.14ha of the township total area is private land, with 32.10ha contributing to the total canopy cover. This means that 86.43% of the total canopy cover is found on private land.
Tree canopy cover on Council land
13.57% of the total canopy cover is on Council land: 7.17ha of the township total area is under Council’s care and control, with 5.02ha of this contributing to the total canopy area.
Radiant temperature of Ashbourne
The radiant temperature visualisation (‘heat map’) undertaken for Ashbourne (see above) clearly shows the cooling effect that tree canopies and open water bodies provide.
The hottest areas are found in paddocks as relative radiant temperature of open parks and fields can be high compared to treed areas. The sports oval in Ashbourne provided cooling as it was watered and hence green, providing evaporative cooling.
It is important to note is that radiant temperatures are not air temperatures. Satellite sensing is typically done at night. Radiant heat is measured as infrared spectral intensity and expressed as temperature mathematically, through prior research using controlled experiments correlating the influence of surface temperatures on perception of heat by a collective of people.
To go back to the main page of the Tree Canopy Report and links to other townships, click here.