HOT CITY | 2021
WHAT IS THE INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE ON THE CREEPING DEFORMATIONS OF SOILS AND GEOTECHNICAL STRUCTURES?
![soil_2021_hot-city_1](https://sites.northwestern.edu/soil/files/2023/09/soil_2021_hot-city_1.jpg)
The shallow subsurface beneath many urban areas worldwide is warming up – a phenomenon widely known as subsurface urban heat islands. Subsurface urban heat islands represent an underground climate change that is increasingly affecting most urban areas worldwide, with multiple detrimental impacts that span from environmental to public health and transportation infrastructure issues.
This subsurface warming is caused by massive amounts of waste heat continuously rejected into the ground by buildings, infrastructures, and underground transport, as well as by heat that diffuses in the ground from the atmosphere. As the deformation of soils and geotechnical structures is critically affected by temperature variations, subsurface heat islands represent a silent hazard for urban areas.
Project team
![]() Alessandro F. Rotta Loria Assistant Professor |
![]() Anjali Thota Ph.D. Student |
Project team
![]() Alessandro F. Rotta Loria Assistant Professor |
![]() Anjali Thota Ph.D. Student |
Journal publications
→ Rotta Loria, A. F., Thota, A., Thomas, A. M., Friedle, N., Lautenberg, J. M. and Song, E. C. (2022) Subsurface heat island across the Chicago Loop District: Analysis of localized drivers. Urban Climate. 44: 101211.
→ Rotta Loria, A. F., Thota, A., Thomas, A. M., Friedle, N., Lautenberg, J. and Song, E. (2022) Subsurface heat island across the Chicago Loop district. Urban Climate 44: 101211.