{"accessLevel": "public", "bureauCode": ["010:12"], "contactPoint": {"@type": "vcard:Contact", "fn": "Peter Ibsen", "hasEmail": "mailto:pibsen@usgs.gov"}, "description": "Examining urban thermal environments has become a critical area of research spanning epidemiology, urban planning, and ecology. While traditional metrics like air temperature (Tair) and satellite-derived surface temperature (SD-LST) dominate urban heat studies, these measures often fail to reflect how people actually experience thermal exposure intensity. More human-oriented metrics, such as Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT), and the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), better capture this lived experience, particularly at locations where people are likely to encounter outdoor heat, such as bus stops. Human demographics further complicate heat exposure, as access to cooling resources like trees and greenspaces can vary by neighborhood income. Our study addresses these complications by collecting thermal data across 60 commuting locations in Denver Colorado in the summer. We evaluate (1) the extent to which more human-oriented metrics capture thermal exposure compared to Tair and LST, and (2) how heat exposure varies by neighborhood income levels. We observed that bus stops in low-income neighborhoods had an MRT increase 2.8 \u00b0C compared wealthier neighborhoods, and that income-driven differences in MRT and WBGT strongly depended on bus stop aspect. After accounting for solar orientation, differences in MRT increased to as much as 6.3 \u00b0C at north-facing stops. Our results suggest tree canopy shade explains some observed heat exposure patterns, with south facing bus stops seeing a MRT and WBGT decrease of 0.42 \u00b0C and 0.11 \u00b0C from a percent increase in tree canopy. Interestingly, depending on bus stop aspect, nearby buildings can increase MRT and WBGT (facing east), or decrease MRT and WBGT (facing south) If planners aim to address this issue, consideration of bus stops, and land covers configuration may help.", "distribution": [{"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.5066/P1FYAHMH", "description": "Landing page for access to the data", "format": "XML", "mediaType": "application/http", "title": "Digital Data"}, {"@type": "dcat:Distribution", "description": "The metadata original format", "downloadURL": "https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS.6986750ab66b018866a83b8f.xml", "format": "XML", "mediaType": "text/xml", "title": "Original Metadata"}], "identifier": "http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_6986750ab66b018866a83b8f", "keyword": ["Colorado", "Denver", "USGS:6986750ab66b018866a83b8f", "United States", "air temperature", "atmospheric and climatic processes", "field sampling", "human environmental safety", "land use and land cover", "physical modeling"], "modified": "2026-03-13T00:00:00Z", "publisher": {"@type": "org:Organization", "name": "U.S. Geological Survey"}, "spatial": "-105.085273, 39.814656, -104.839591, 39.814656", "theme": ["geospatial"], "title": "Observed and predicted thermal exposure data, and associated land cover characteristics, of commuting locations in Denver Colorado"}