Heat Islands on Airport and Highway Rights-of-Way: Measure to Take Action

Heat Islands on Airport and Highway Rights-of-Way: Measure to Take Action

An airport, a logistics hub, a highway interchange: these facilities cover tens, sometimes hundreds, of hectares of impervious surfaces—asphalt, concrete, and gravel. When exposed to direct sunlight, these surfaces absorb and release heat long after sunset, creating local heat islands of particularly high intensity.

For infrastructure managers, this is no longer just a geographical fact. It is a CSR issue, a growing reporting requirement, and a concrete area for action.

Window frames with exceptional thermal performance

Why Transportation Infrastructure Is Overheating

• Very low albedo: asphalt absorbs up to 95% of solar radiation
• Virtually no vegetation in traffic and parking areas
• Widespread effects: The density of impervious surfaces creates "heat reservoirs"
• Low humidity: without plant evapotranspiration, there is no natural temperature regulation

A 10-hectare airport parking lot can reach surface temperatures of 55–60°C on a summer day.

An increasingly prominent CSR issue

• CSRD: Reporting on Physical Climate Risks
• Net positive biodiversity: a goal set forth in the National Biodiversity Strategy 2030
• ZAN: Operators of existing infrastructure are also affected
• European Taxonomy: Adaptation to climate change must be demonstrated

Mapping ICUs on a large scale: the challenge of extensive land areas

What imaging analysis makes possible

Covering an area of 200 hectares, the analysis of satellite imagery provides a comprehensive thermal map that can be updated over time. It provides:

• Heat map of the right-of-way
• The correlation between impervious surfaces and temperature
• Opportunities for restoration without operational constraints

Long-term tracking and continuous monitoring

Operators need to demonstrate the actual impact of their restoration projects—not just their intentions. Annual monitoring of thermal and vegetation cover indicators enables the production of auditable impact reports.

Simulate Before Restoring: The Case of Green Parking Lots

Parking lots often present the greatest opportunity for restoration on public lands. Several approaches are possible: tree planting, permeable paving, landscaped swales, and solar canopies with ground vegetation.

Simulation makes it possible to compare these scenarios before construction begins, providing quantified results on temperature reduction, unpaved surface area, carbon sequestration, and improvements in biodiversity.

Case studies: Lyon and Nantes airports

Lyon Airport — greening of a parking lot: simulation of planting 100 trees → -1.76°C, +17 tCO2, CBSh +0.2.

Nantes Atlantique Airport — parking lot restoration + solar carport shade structures (29 ha): -6.3°C, +784.8 tCO2, +4.4 ha of unpaved area. A project that combines renewable energy production with restoration, delivering demonstrable thermal and carbon benefits.

Conclusion

Infrastructure rights-of-way don’t have to be thermal wastelands. With the right diagnostic and simulation tools, operators can identify opportunities for restoration, quantify their impact, and generate the data needed for their CSR reporting. Heat is measurable. Action is, too.

CTA: ✈️ Do you manage an airport, highway, or rail facility? Get a comprehensive energy audit of your site. [Contact the Netcarbon team →]