Heat Monitoring 2025

Summer 2025 was focused on observing temperature and extreme heat in the Virgin Islands. Over the summer, we had three major data collection efforts occurring concurrently with the aid of various partners and visiting researchers. For one of the efforts, we even had the participation of members of the public to help understand how temperature fluctuates within our homes.

Duke Engage 2025

Our most active data collection was having visiting rising Sophomores and Juniors from Duke University conduct walking surveys across St. Thomas. The students would walk preset routes in various areas twice – once in the morning and again in the afternoon – and analyze how the readings differ. The students looked at temperature, humidity and atmospheric pressure.

Another aspect of their study was cataloging the building profile of homes along their routes. Every 5 buildings, the students cataloged building materials, window types, presence of ac units and if there are any green spaces in relation to the homes. They evaluated how building materials and direction may impact relative heat within an area.

Weather Stations and Air Quality Monitoring

Partnering with a PhD candidate at New York University (NYU), a week was spent on St. Thomas installing weather stations and air quality monitors across the island with the goal of creating a more accurate weather prediction model for the island. Three stations were placed in areas of unique physical characteristics to take into consideration how different elevations and presence of infrastructure play into how weather is experienced across the island.

Another aspect of this effort is looking into air quality across the island. Air quality monitors were installed with the weather stations to track the quality of the air taken in by residents. Monitors track particulate matter 2.5 and 10, ozone and many other factors that have an impact on our health.

Residential Heat Monitoring

To compliment the Duke walking surveys and the static high-quality weather stations, we launched the Residential Heat Monitoring Network over the summer of 2025. In this program, residents placed a small temperature monitor in a room of their house and sent us the data on a weekly basis. From this data, we were able to track how temperature varies over an extended period in one location and how that temperature variation compares to different locations across the Territory. Halfway through the program, we had residents place monitors in a different location of their house and from there we were able to compare how one location can experience temperature differently based on it’s sunward exposure.