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Calibration of the physiological equivalent temperature index for three different climatic regions

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Abstract

In human biometeorology, the integration of several microclimatic variables as a combined index facilitates the understanding of how users perceive thermal environments. Indices, such as the physiological equivalent temperature (PET) index, translate the combined effects of meteorological variables on humans in terms of thermal stress or comfort and serve as important aids to climate-responsive urban and regional planning as well as heat stress and thermal comfort analyses. However, there is a need for adjusting proposed comfort/stress ranges of a given index when using it in different climatic contexts. The purpose of this study is to present a preliminary calibration procedure for the PET index for three different climatic regions: Curitiba, Brazil, a subtropical location; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a tropical city; and Glasgow, UK, a high-latitude location. Field studies have been carried out by the authors according to a similar protocol and using similar equipment, yielding actual thermal sensation votes and microclimate data, post-processed as PET data. The calibration procedure uses exclusively thermal sensation data as reported by pedestrians during outdoor comfort campaigns and concurrent microclimatic data recorded during the interviews. PET comfort/stress classes differ among the three locations and, in general, are less restrictive as in the original ranges proposed by the index developers.

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Notes

  1. From weather files available at https://energyplus.net/weather. Weather data for Glasgow are assumed as at the nearest weather station in Oban, 56° 25′ N, 5° 28′ W, 4 m a.s.l (note that the ASHRAE classification shown here is derived algorithmically from the source weather data. It may not be indicative of the long-term climate for each location).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Construção Civil, Campus Curitiba—Sede Ecoville, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Rua Deputado Heitor Alencar Furtado, 4900, Curitiba, PR, 81280-340, Brazil

    E Krüger

  2. Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Medianeira, Brazil

    F. Rossi

  3. Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    P Drach

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  1. E Krüger
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  2. F. Rossi
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  3. P Drach
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Correspondence to E Krüger.

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Krüger, E., Rossi, F. & Drach, P. Calibration of the physiological equivalent temperature index for three different climatic regions. Int J Biometeorol 61, 1323–1336 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-017-1310-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-017-1310-8

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