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Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Cities: Assessing and Developing Green, Blue and Grey Solutions for Healthy and Sustainable Urban Future

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Published Papers

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Biometeorology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (18 November 2021) | Viewed by 24696

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Dragan Milosevic

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Guest Editor

Climatology and Hydrology Research Centre, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad 21000, Serbia
Interests: outdoor thermal comfort; human biometeorology; urban climate; climate-sensitive urban design; nature-based solutions

Dr. Britta Jänicke

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

independent researcher
Interests: climate-sensitive planning; urban climate; human biometeorology; heat stress; urban green; multi-scale analyses

Dr. Yuliya Dzyuban

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Cooling Singapore Research Project
Office of Core Curriculum, Singapore Management University, Administration Building, Level 9, 81 Victoria Street, 188065, Singapore
Interests: outdoor thermal comfort; heat perception; physiology of heat regulation; urban climate; nature-based solutions

Dr. Michael Allen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Geography Program, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
Interests: human biometeorology; envirommental hazards; climate change; geographic and climate education

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We invite you to contribute original research and review articles dealing with outdoor thermal comfort, urban climate, and urban design solutions (grey/green/blue) for healthy and sustainable neighborhoods and cities. Your contributions can include field studies, biometeorological surveys, experimental and modeling works, as well as techniques and developments tailored to the assessment of outdoor thermal comfort and urban climate conditions. The manuscripts can include studies focused on developing climate-sensitive urban design solutions and guidelines at various scales. Research centered on nature-based solutions to mitigate the adverse impacts of urbanization processes and climate change in cities are also welcome. Moreover, studies that target the interactions between urban climate, outdoor thermal comfort, and related fields such as climate change mitigation and air quality are appropriate to be included in the Special Issue. Finally, review articles that summarize past and contemporary research and provide valuable insights and future research directions in the study of outdoor thermal comfort, urban climate, and climate-sensitive urban design are also invited.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following:

Outdoor human thermal comfort conditions in diverse urban environments: field studies, modeling, and surveying
Urban climate conditions (e.g., UHI, humidity, wind, radiation)
Climate-sensitive and nature-based solutions for healthy and sustainable neighborhoods and cities
Interactions between outdoor thermal comfort measures and related fields such as climate change mitigation and air quality
Heat and health in cities
Climate change and urbanization

Dr. Dragan Milosevic
Dr. Britta Jänicke
Dr. Yuliya Dzyuban
Dr. Michael Allen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Outdoor thermal comfort
Human biometeorology
Urban heat island
Urban climate
Climate-sensitive urban planning and design
Nature-based solutions

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 10268 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Human Outdoor Thermal Comfort in a Palm Grove during the Date Palm Phenological Cycle

by Mohamed Elhadi Matallah, Hicham Fawzi Arrar, Mohammed Faci, Waqas Ahmed Mahar, Fatima Zahra Ben Ratmia and Shady Attia

Atmosphere 2022, 13(3), 379; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos13030379 - 24 Feb 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2324

Abstract

Oasis settlements in Saharan lands present a particular model of life for rural individuals’ adaptation to environmental challenges. This study investigated human outdoor thermal comfort in a palm grove of the Tolga region, Algeria, during the phenological cycle of the date palm. Date palms are the primary economic source of the cultivators, who mainly live in houses inside the cultivated area. For this study, an area of 21 hectares with 220 palm trees was selected. The phenological cycle of the date palm was divided into three growth stages, including seasonal variations as well. The cycle covers a period of 8 months from March to November. Therefore, on-site monitoring of the microclimate was performed during March–November 2021. The climatic factors of air temperature and humidity were monitored at an interval of 10 min. The discomfort index based on temperature ranges covering discomfort conditions was used. The results showed that the cultivators work under extreme temperatures for 5.5 months during the phenological cycle. The spring period was more comfortable, while slight to extreme discomfort was observed in the summer and fall seasons, especially between midday and 7 p.m. Temperatures below 25 °C are comfortable for the cultivators; however, severe discomfort occurs at 30 °C or above. Moreover, the humidity was not a dominant factor for discomfort. These findings can be helpful for architects and planners to devise solutions that can fulfil human comfort requirements and date palm cultivar conditions, specifically during extreme thermal situations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Cities: Assessing and Developing Green, Blue and Grey Solutions for Healthy and Sustainable Urban Future)

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14 pages, 3005 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimating Terrestrial Radiation for Human Thermal Comfort in Outdoor Urban Space

by Kanghyun Lee and Robert D. Brown

Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1701; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12121701 - 19 Dec 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2347

Abstract

Cities inadvertently create warmer and drier urban climate conditions than their surrounding areas through urbanization that replaces natural surfaces with impervious materials. These changes cause heat-related health problems and many studies suggest microclimatic urban design (MUD) as an approach to address these problems. In MUD-related research, although terrestrial radiation plays an important role in human thermal comfort and previous studies use thermal comfort models to identify human heat stress, few studies have addressed the effect of terrestrial radiation. This study develops the ground ratio factor (GRF) model to estimate the different terrestrial radiation according to different ground conditions. Three types of ground materials (asphalt, concrete, and grass) were considered in the model, and field studies were conducted in humid subtropical climate (Cfa) zone during the hot season (13 July to 19 September 2020). The model was validated by comparing the predicated terrestrial radiation (PTR) from the model with the actual terrestrial radiation (ATR). The results showed that there is a statistically significant strong correlation between PTR and ATR. The model can contribute to MUD strategies by updating existing human energy budget models, which can lead to the measurement of more accurate human thermal comfort for mitigating thermal environments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Cities: Assessing and Developing Green, Blue and Grey Solutions for Healthy and Sustainable Urban Future)

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21 pages, 6129 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment of Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Serbia’s Urban Environments during Different Seasons

by Milica Lukić, Dejan Filipović, Milica Pecelj, Ljiljana Crnogorac, Bogdan Lukić, Lazar Divjak, Ana Lukić and Ana Vučićević

Atmosphere 2021, 12(8), 1084; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12081084 - 23 Aug 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3407

Abstract

The urban microclimate is gradually changing due to climate change, extreme weather conditions, urbanization, and the heat island effect. In such an altered environment, outdoor thermal comfort can have a strong impact on public health and quality of life in urban areas. In this study, three main urban areas in Serbia were selected: Belgrade (Central Serbia), Novi Sad (Northern Serbia), and Niš (Southern Serbia). The focus was on the temporal assessment of OTC, using the UTCI over a period of 20 years (1999–2018) during different seasons. The main aim is the general estimation of the OTC of Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Niš, in order to gain better insight into the bioclimatic condition, current trends and anomalies that have occurred. The analysis was conducted based on an hourly (7 h, 14 h, and 21 h CET) and “day by day” meteorological data set. Findings show the presence of a growing trend in seasonal UTCI anomalies, especially during summer and spring. In addition, there is a notable increase in the number of days above the defined UTCI thresholds for each season. Average annual UTCIs values also show a positive, rising trend, ranging from 0.50 °C to 1.33 °C. The most significant deviations from the average UTCI values, both seasonal and annual, were recorded in 2000, 2007, 2012, 2015, 2017, and 2018. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Cities: Assessing and Developing Green, Blue and Grey Solutions for Healthy and Sustainable Urban Future)

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19 pages, 12063 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantifying the Effect of Building Shadowing and Cloudiness on Mean Radiant Temperature in Singapore

by Juan A. Acero, Elliot J. Y. Koh, Yon Sun Tan and Leslie K. Norford

Atmosphere 2021, 12(8), 1012; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12081012 - 06 Aug 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2087

Abstract

Improving the quality of life in urban areas has become a major concern in the last few decades. With a constantly increasing urban population and in a climate change context, detailed knowledge of the impact of urban elements on the outdoor thermal environment is relevant. In this work, we present the results of several climatic campaigns carried out in Singapore aiming to evaluate local urban climate variables. Sensors were deployed simultaneously in different sites. The effect of building shadowing in the diurnal cycle of mean radiant temperature (T_mrt) is evaluated in different seasons. Although during the Inter-Monsoon season, mean T_mrt reduction due to building shadow is ≈19 °C, during clear skies days, it can be reduced by ≈30 °C. The T_mrt difference between sites is analyzed based on the weather conditions, the sky view factor (SVF), and the type of surrounding urban elements. Under building shadow conditions, higher SVF showed higher T_mrt values, although no correlation was found between T_mrt and diffuse solar radiation (measured above the urban canopy). The results suggest a relevant contribution of other radiation components (e.g., longwave radiation). The quantitative analysis of the T_mrt provided in this work is relevant for outdoor thermal comfort strategies in tropical areas such as Singapore. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Cities: Assessing and Developing Green, Blue and Grey Solutions for Healthy and Sustainable Urban Future)

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19 pages, 9193 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Experimental Comparative Study between Conventional and Green Parking Lots: Analysis of Subsurface Thermal Behavior under Warm and Dry Summer Conditions

by Ryad Bouzouidja, François Leconte, Márton Kiss, Margaux Pierret, Christelle Pruvot, Sébastien Détriché, Brice Louvel, Julie Bertout, Zakaria Aketouane, Tingting Vogt Wu, Rémy Goiffon, Baptiste Colin, Anélie Pétrissans, Philippe Lagière and Mathieu Pétrissans

Atmosphere 2021, 12(8), 994; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12080994 - 31 Jul 2021

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3467

Abstract

Green infrastructure has a role to play in climate change adaptation strategies in cities. Alternative urban spaces should be designed considering new requirements in terms of urban microclimate and thermal comfort. Pervious pavements such as green parking lots can contribute to this goal through solar evaporative cooling. However, the cooling benefits of such systems remain under debate during dry and warm periods. The aim of this study was to compare experimentally the thermal behavior of different parking lot types (PLTs) with vegetated urban soil. Four parking lots were instrumented, with temperature probes buried at different depths. Underground temperatures were measured during summer 2019, and the hottest days of the period were analyzed. Results show that the less mineral used in the surface coating, the less it warms up. The temperature difference at the upper layer can reach 10 °C between mineral and non-mineral PLTs. PLTs can be grouped into three types: (i) high surface temperature during daytime and nighttime, important heat transfer toward the sublayers, and low time shift (asphalt system); (ii) high (resp. low) surface temperature during daytime (resp. nighttime), weak heat transfer toward the sublayers, and important time shift (paved stone system); and (iii) low surface temperature during daytime and nighttime, weak heat transfer toward the sublayers, and important time shift (vegetation and substrate system, wood chips system, vegetated urban soil). The results of this study underline that pervious pavements demonstrate thermal benefits under warm and dry summer conditions compared to conventional parking lot solutions. The results also indicate that the hygrothermal properties of urban materials are crucial for urban heat island mitigation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Cities: Assessing and Developing Green, Blue and Grey Solutions for Healthy and Sustainable Urban Future)

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28 pages, 16663 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

High-Resolution Modelling of Thermal Exposure during a Hot Spell: A Case Study Using PALM-4U in Prague, Czech Republic

by Jan Geletič, Michal Lehnert, Pavel Krč, Jaroslav Resler and Eric Scott Krayenhoff

Atmosphere 2021, 12(2), 175; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12020175 - 29 Jan 2021

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3750

Abstract

The modelling of thermal exposure in outdoor urban environments is a highly topical challenge in modern climate research. This paper presents the results derived from a new micrometeorological model that employs an integrated biometeorology module to model Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). This is PALM-4U, which includes an integrated human body-shape parameterization, deployed herein for a pilot domain in Prague, Czech Republic. The results highlight the key role of radiation in the spatiotemporal variability of thermal exposure in moderate-climate urban areas during summer days in terms of the way in which this directly affects thermal comfort through radiant temperature and indirectly through the complexity of turbulence in street canyons. The model simulations suggest that the highest thermal exposure may be expected within street canyons near the irradiated north sides of east–west streets and near streets oriented north–south. Heat exposure in streets increases in proximity to buildings with reflective paints. The lowest heat exposure during the day may be anticipated in tree-shaded courtyards. The cooling effect of trees may range from 4 °C to 9 °C in UTCI, and the cooling effect of grass in comparison with artificial paved surfaces in open public places may be from 2 °C to 5 °C UTCI. In general terms, this study illustrates that the PALM modelling system provides a new perspective on the spatiotemporal differentiation of thermal exposure at the pedestrian level; it may therefore contribute to more climate-sensitive urban planning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Cities: Assessing and Developing Green, Blue and Grey Solutions for Healthy and Sustainable Urban Future)

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Review

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22 pages, 627 KiB

Open AccessReview

Review of User-Friendly Models to Improve the Urban Micro-Climate

by Britta Jänicke, Dragan Milošević and Suneja Manavvi

Atmosphere 2021, 12(10), 1291; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12101291 - 03 Oct 2021

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 5231

Abstract

Various micro-scale models for comparing alternative design concepts have been developed in recent decades. The objective of this study is to provide an overview of current user-friendly micro-climate models. In the results, a vast majority of models identified were excluded from the review because the models were not micro-scale, lacking a user-interface, or were not available. In total, eight models met the seven-point inclusion criteria. These models were ADMS Temperature and Humidity model, advanced SkyHelios model, ANSYS FLUENT, ENVI-met, RayMan, SOLWEIG, TownScope, and UMEP. These models differ in their complexity and their widespread use in the scientific community, ranging from very few to thousands of citations. Most of these models simulate air temperature, global radiation, and mean radiant temperature, which helps to evaluate outdoor thermal comfort in cities. All of these models offer a linkage to CAD or GIS software and user support systems at various levels, which facilitates a smooth integration to planning and design. We detected that all models have been evaluated against observations. A wider model comparison, however, has only been performed for fewer models. With this review, we aim to support the finding of a reliable tool, which is fit for the specific purpose. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Cities: Assessing and Developing Green, Blue and Grey Solutions for Healthy and Sustainable Urban Future)

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