Mutchler was interested in obtaining photographs for a feature article he was working on about the weather. NG wanted specifically to photograph cool roofing being applied in Atlanta. Atlanta is one of a number of metropolitan communities where NASA and others have studied the "urban heat island effect" over a period of years (www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/urban/).
As it was explained to us at the time, the NG article was set to focus on all facets of the weather, and a point of interest was the how urban heat islands affect weather in major metropolitan areas. A focal point of the work NASA has done regarding the urban heat island phenomenon is its infrared satellite images taken over a period of years. These images dramatically portray how the surface temperature of the planet may be impacted by rapid growth in urban areas. The NASA study, along with a number of others, seeks to correlate rapid growth and the effect it has on weather and air pollution.