I am running the cooling model for my case study area and planning to use the results to find out supply demand mismatches. For the analysis I would need a map with temperature reduction in avoided heat (in degrees Celsius) due to green infrastructure. If I understand it correctly, the cooling model results give Tair and Tnomix but none of them is showing the avoided heat? I have checked the user guide but I was not able to figure out how this could be done. Is there any way to get this from the model’s results? Or would the easiest solution be to run the model again with changed LULC (green areas changed to bare soil/concrete) and then just subtract it from the temperature results with green LULC? Would this be a legit solution?
Hi @helena,
Welcome to the forum! You’re correct, the model does not output a temperature difference (between the input LULC, and a LULC with no green spaces). This is for a few reasons:
Comparing to a LULC with no green spaces at all is not always a relevant or realistic comparison to make for everyone’s studies
As you mention, you’d need to assign different LULC classes (soil, concrete, etc) and corresponding biophysical data to the green space areas. This requires some level of local knowledge and judgment about what’s appropriate for the area.
To calculate a difference, you have to compare two different scenarios, which means two different runs of the model.
So because making such a comparison is specific to your case study and requires you to make judgments about the LULC changes between two scenarios, we leave it up to the user to run the model twice and compare the scenarios. Comparing scenarios is a very common use for InVEST, and it is definitely a legit solution as long as you keep all the other parameters (besides the LULC raster) constant. I hope that helps!