Resolving shortwave and longwave irradiation distributions across the human body in outdoor built environments

Abstract

Outdoor built environments can be designed to enhance thermal comfort, yet the relationship between the two is often assessed in whole-body terms, overlooking the asymmetric nature of thermal interactions between the human body and its surroundings. Moreover, the radiative component of heat exchange—dominant in hot and dry climates—is typically lumped into a single artificial metric, the mean radiant temperature, rather than being resolved into its shortwave and longwave spectral components. The shortwave irradiation distribution on the human body is often highly anisotropic, causing localized thermal discomfort in outdoor environments. However, no existing methods effectively quantify shortwave and longwave irradiation distributions on the human body. To address this gap, we developed two methods to quantify these processes. The first approach uses an outdoor thermal manikin with a white-coated side, enabling the separation of spectral components by subtracting measurements from symmetrically corresponding surface zones of tan color. The second hybrid approach converts radiometer measurements in six directions into boundary conditions for computational thermal manikin simulations. We evaluated irradiation distributions for various body parts using both methods during outdoor measurements across sunny, partially shaded, and fully shaded sites under warm to extremely hot conditions. In most cases, the two methods produced closely aligned results, with divergences highlighting their respective strengths and limitations. Additionally, we used the manikin to quantify irradiation attenuation provided by five long-sleeve shirts with colors ranging from white to black. These advanced methods can be integrated with airflow and thermoregulatory modeling to optimize outdoor built environments for enhanced human thermal comfort.