A slight hum in the sky of the Bois de Vincennes. At more than a hundred meters high, Météo France drones measure the temperature of Paris in the evening. A first in a city.
Collected simultaneously in an urban area and in a vegetated area, the measurements are used to understand the role of parks in periods of high heat. This temperature recording method is part of the vast “Paname 2023” research program, initiated last year. Drones are added to other methods such as itinerant measurements or weather balloons.
The project was meticulously prepared in Toulouse where the National Center for Meteorological Research is located, even if Aude Lemonsu, CNRS research director, admits:
“We had not predicted the attacks of seagulls. But it did not disrupt the flights. »
They take place throughout the month of July in the Parc Montsouris, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Bois de Vincennes and the Square du Temple. At the same time, the urban areas targeted are the Vaucanson school, the Georges-Braque and Sainte-Clotilde colleges as well as the Sorbonne enclosure.
One of three Météo France drones used as part of the Paname 2023 project. LP / Alexia Conrath
The use of the three drones is very framed. To be able to fly in town, the quadcopter drones have been unlocked and the aviation security services are notified before each flight. Pedestals delimit the security perimeter over an area between 30 and 60 meters. In the parks, a few onlookers sometimes stop to ask the scientists about the installation.
Departures are made at fixed times between 6:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Each drone climbs vertically up to 120 m and descends, all in about ten minutes. The manipulation is repeated eight times in a row with a fifteen-minute break between each flight.
4 to 5 Degrees Less in Green Spaces
That Thursday, in the Bois de Vincennes, Tim Castro de Haro controls the drone on which is fixed the temperature sensor which was designed by a 3D printer. The remote pilot is focused: “This is the first time I have worked with scientists. Usually, I tend to shoot landscape images for films. If the wind exceeds 60 km/h or if it rains too hard, the flights are cancelled. Each drone worth 2,500 euros is checked daily.
Although it is still early for analyses, the first results are already evident: parks cool faster in the evening. The differences observed are of the order of 4 to 5 degrees. This subject is all the more important since a study published in “The Lancet”, on March 16, states that Paris is the city in Europe where the risk of dying in heat waves is the greatest.
Top Photo: Tim Castro de Haro, accompanied by his colleague Sébastien Barrau, pilots a drone which records the temperatures in the Bois de Vincennes at the end of the day during the month of July 2023. LP / Alexia Conrath
Source: Le Parisien (Translated by Google)