Analysis of human thermal comfort in Central European City during summer of 2015: A case of Novi Sad (Serbia)

Abstract

Urban meteorological network (UMN) was established in the Central European City of Novi Sad (Serbia) based on "local climate zones" (LCZs) system. Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET) index was used for the assessment of outdoor thermal comfort in the "built" and "land cover" LCZ classes of Novi Sad. The index was calculated in the RayMan software based on the meteorological, physiological as well as building and vegetation data. Temporal analysis was performed for extreme heat stress days (PETmax ? 41 ?C), extreme heat stress hours (PETav ? 41 ?C) and days with occurrence of "tropical nights" (Tmin > 20 ?C) during exceptionally hot summer of 2015. Our results show that extreme heat stress hours are the least frequent in compact midrise LCZ 2, followed by dense trees LCZ A. On the contrary, countryside (low plants - LCZ D) showed to be the most uncomfortable area during daytime followed by compact low-rise areas (LCZ 3). Tropical nights are the most frequent in midrise LCZs 5 and 2 (40-46 nights) and decreasing towards open, sparsely built and natural LCZs (6-8 tropical nights in LCZs A and D). This is almost 800% decrease and it has implications for health and recreation of urban population and emphasizes the need for UMN development based on LCZ system.