Printed from smellbook.com/smells/hot-pavement. This printout keeps the entry for Hot Pavement itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
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A sun-heated urban surface smell associated with warm asphalt, dust and dry city air.
Its type is State because its name already describes a condition, such as wet, toasted or after rain. That is a way of grouping entries; it is different from the states some entries list, which record how a smell is met. See how smells are grouped.
Setting: urban. An editorial word for the kind of place or occasion the smell belongs to, not a smell word.
Hot pavement smells warm, dry and mineral, a dusty, slightly tarry smell that seems to hang just above the ground. EDITORIAL
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QUESTIONS ABOUT HOT PAVEMENT
Hot pavement smells warm, dry and mineral, a dusty, slightly tarry smell that seems to hang just above the ground. The air over it feels heavy and still, and the smell can catch in the nose on a slow walk in the afternoon sun. It is drier and sharper than asphalt after rain. It can be confused with a car park or a road being resurfaced.
It is met on a summer street in the afternoon, crossing a car park, and walking over sun-heated pavement in the city. Bus stops, playgrounds and station forecourts on bright, still days carry it too.
Typical settings: summer street, car park, sun-heated pavement.
SmellBook links it to 2 place pages: see them in Connections.
One VERIFIED scientific claim from one published source is recorded for this entry: Asphalt emissions rise with heat and sun. This claim says only what its source supports, in the scope shown with it.
The scientific study behind this evidence is chemistry or emission work, not a study of how the smell is perceived.
Hot Pavement is a state-and-place profile distinct from wet asphalt after rain.
Words that are easy to mix up: What is the difference between earthy and mineral?, Is every warm smell spicy? and Is metallic the same as mineral?
No historical source or heritage record is linked to this entry yet.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
Scientific evidence · 1 claim
Asphalt emissions rise with heat and sun
Road and roofing asphalts held at typical temperatures and solar conditions released complex mixtures of organic compounds, mostly intermediate- or semivolatile and about 30% aromatic; emissions rose markedly with moderate solar exposure, by about 300% for road asphalt.
Laboratory measurements on asphalt samples simulating storage, paving and use; it concerns emissions and air quality, not odour.
How this was found: Emissions or air measured. What a material, product or place releases into the air was measured, usually without assessing odour. Source: primary study; material-emission work.
Peeyush Khare et al.
DOI 10.1126/sciadv.abb9785Links chosen by SmellBook editors, not a ranking.
Associations can vary strongly by person, place and culture.
PATHS FROM HERE
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WHERE THIS SMELL APPEARS
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FOR RESEARCHERS AND EDITORS
Identity, revision history, corrections and how to cite Hot Pavement.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: VERIFIED.
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook SB-0090 — Hot Pavementsmellbook:smell:hot-pavementhttps://smellbook.com/smells/hot-pavementSmellBook. (2026). Hot Pavement (revision 4, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:hot-pavement. https://smellbook.com/smells/hot-pavement@misc{smellbook_hot_pavement_r4,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Hot Pavement},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 4, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:hot-pavement},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/hot-pavement}
}TY - ENCYC ID - smellbook-hot-pavement-r4 TI - Hot Pavement AU - SmellBook T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas PY - 2026 DA - 2026/10/06 ET - revision 4 UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/hot-pavement N1 - SB-0090; smellbook:smell:hot-pavement; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/hot-pavement ER -
The citation names revision 4 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
Hot Pavement is a state-and-place profile distinct from wet asphalt after rain.
Other entries whose editors linked to Hot Pavement:
Editorial description expanded to answer what it smells like and where you meet it; independently reviewed.
Created 2026-09-22 · Updated 2026-10-06Dataset history In the SmellBook dataset since the first of three dataset releases of 2026-09-30; changed in the first of two dataset releases of 2026-10-05 (descriptors).
No correction notices published for this entry. Corrections policyEVIDENCE MATTERS
SmellBook separates cultural association, community perception, verified evidence, prediction and experimental relationships rather than presenting them as the same thing. Read the evidence guide ↗ See the evidence coverage report ↗