Reflective Canopies
A reflective canopy is a shade that also acts like a mirror. The top bounces sunlight back to the sky; the underside stays cool, so people, crops and animals underneath experience much lower radiant heat.
Scientific detail
Reflective canopies combine shading with high-albedo overhead surfaces to reduce both direct solar irradiance and reflected/emitted mean radiant temperature (MRT) beneath the canopy. Instrumented deployments show canopy-under MRT reductions exceeding 15 °C at peak solar loading, with corresponding UTCI and WBGT reductions that meaningfully lower heat-strain risk for outdoor workers.
Related terms
Reflective Cooling
Cooling by bouncing sunlight away from a surface before it can be absorbed as heat.
Mean Radiant Temperature
The average temperature of every surface radiating heat toward a person.
Wet Bulb Globe Temperature
A composite heat index widely used to set safe limits for outdoor work, sport and military training.
Universal Thermal Climate Index
A modern, physiology-based heat index that estimates how the human body actually responds to weather.
Urban Heat Island
The phenomenon where cities are noticeably hotter than the surrounding countryside.
Where this concept shows up on MEER
Related projects
- Freetown, Sierra Leone
Reflective rooftops across informal settlements.
- Tanzania
Community-scale reflective interventions.
- Pune, India
Rooftop reflective installations in dense urban housing.
Related stories
- Human stories
First-person accounts of life inside extreme heat.
- News & stories
Related resources
Explore in topic hubs
Curated collections of MEER research, projects, publications and stories that feature this term.
Passive Cooling
Everything MEER publishes on passive cooling — reflective roofs, PDRC materials, canopies, reservoir systems, projects, publications and stories, gathered in one place.
Urban Heat
The urban heat-island effect, its measurement, and how MEER's reflective roofs, canopies and pavements reduce peak city temperatures and protect vulnerable urban populations.
Agriculture & Cooling
How reflective materials, canopies and passive cooling protect agricultural yields, livestock and rural livelihoods under extreme heat.
Communities & Stories
Human stories, community reporting and field partnerships that ground MEER's science in the lives of the people most exposed to extreme heat.