Abstract
Summer bioclimatic discomfort is a significant public health problem. Bioclimatic characterisations of populations living in urban areas are usually very poor, although the risks are relatively higher in cities because of the phenomenon known as the “urban heat island”. We compared airport, rural, and urban bioclimatic conditions in terms of apparent temperature, Thom index, and temperature alone in several sites within a radius of approximately 25 km from the city of Bologna (Italy). The comparison between meteorological monitoring stations within and near the urban area showed the large impact of the urban heat island effect. Nighttime data showed the largest differences among the investigated sites. Minimum apparent temperatures at rural stations were about 3.5°C lower than the urban 30 m reference station, and 6°C lower than the 2 m urban site. The 2 m apparent temperature values within the urban area were several degrees higher (typically 2°C) than those taken above the roof, both for minimum and maximum values. Temporal trends in the different sites were highly correlated (generally above 0.90), but regression residuals were sometimes quite large. Finally, epidemiological implications are briefly addressed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Basu R, Samet JM (2002a) Relation between elevated ambient temperature and mortality: a review of the epidemiologic evidence. Epidemiol Rev 24:190–202
Basu R, Samet JM (2002b) An exposure assessment study of ambient heat exposure in an elderly population in Baltimore, Maryland. Environ Health Perspect 110:1219–1224
Curriero FC, Heiner KS, Samet JM et al. (2002) Temperature and Mortality in 11 Cities of the Eastern United States. Am J Epidemiol 155(1):80–87
De’donato F, Stafoggia M, Rognoni M et al (2008) Airport and city-centre temperatures in the evaluation of the association between heat and mortality. Int J Biometeorol 52(4):301–310
Filleul L, Cassadou S, Medina S et al (2007) The relation between temperature, ozone, and mortality in nine French cities during the heat wave of 2003. Environ Health Perspect 4(9):1344–1347
Giles BD, Balafoutis C, Maneras P (1990) Too hot for comfort: the heatwaves in Greece in 1987 and 1988. Int J Biometeorol 34:98–104
Hajat S, Armstrong BG, Gouveia N et al (2005) Mortality displacement of heat-related deaths: a comparison of Delhi, São Paulo, and London. Epidemiology 16(5):613–620
Johnson JM, Proppe DW (1996) Cardiovascular adjustments to heat stress. In: Handbook of physiology. Environmental Physiology. Am Physiol Soc, Bethesda, pp 215–243
Kalkstein LS (1993) Direct impacts in cities. Lancet 342:1397–1399
Katsouyanni K, Pantazopoulou A, Touloumi G et al (1993) Evidence for interaction between air pollution and high temperature in the causation of excess mortality. Arch Environ Health 48(4):235–242
Landsberg HE (1981) The urban climate. Academic, New York
Medina-Ramon M, Zanobetti A, Cavanagh DP et al (2006) Extreme temperatures and mortality: assessing effect modification by personal characteristics and specific cause of death in a multi-city case-only analysis. Environ Health Perspect 114(9):1331–1336
Michelozzi P, De Sario M, Accetta G et al (2006) Temperature and summer mortality: geographical and temporal variations in four Italian cities. J Epidemiol Community Health 60(5):417–423
Smoyer KE, Rainham DG, Hewko JN (2000) Heat-stress-related mortality in five cities in Southern Ontario: 1980–1996. Int J Biometeorol 44(4):190–197
Stafoggia M, Forastiere F, Agostini D et al (2006) Vulnerability to heat-related mortality: a multicity, population-based, case-crossover analysis. Epidemiology 7(3):315–323
Steadman RG (1979) The assessment of sultriness. Part I: A temperature-humidity index based on human physiology and clothing science. J Applied Meteorol 18:861–873
Thom EC, Bosen JF (1959) The discomfort index. Weatherwise 12:57–60
WMO (World Meteorological Organization) (2006) Initial guidance to obtain representative meteorological observations at urban sites. WMO/TD- No. 1250
Zauli Sajani S, Garaffoni G, Goldoni CA et al (2002) Mortality and bioclimatic discomfort in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. J Epidemiol Community Health 56(7):536–537
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zauli Sajani, S., Tibaldi, S., Scotto, F. et al. Bioclimatic characterisation of an urban area: a case study in Bologna (Italy). Int J Biometeorol 52, 779–785 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-008-0171-6
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-008-0171-6