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Assessment of daytime outdoor comfort levels in and outside the urban area of Glasgow, UK

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Abstract

To understand thermal preferences and to define a preliminary outdoor comfort range for the local population of Glasgow, UK, an extensive series of measurements and surveys was carried out during 19 monitoring campaigns from winter through summer 2011 at six different monitoring points in pedestrian areas of downtown Glasgow. For data collection, a Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station equipped with temperature and humidity sensors, cup anemometer with wind vane, silicon pyranometer and globe thermometer was employed. Predictions of the outdoor thermal index PET (physiologically equivalent temperature) correlated closely to the actual thermal votes of respondents. Using concurrent measurements from a second Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station placed in a rural setting approximately 15 km from the urban area, comparisons were drawn with regard to daytime thermal comfort levels and urban–rural temperature differences (∆Tu-r) for the various sites. The urban sites exhibited a consistent lower level of thermal discomfort during daytime. No discernible effect of urban form attributes in terms of the sky-view factor were observed on ∆Tu-r or on the relative difference of the adjusted predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD*).

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Notes

  1. For determination of the SVF, fisheye images at each monitoring point were generated using a fisheye lens FC-E8 coupled to a Nikon CoolPix 4500 digital camera. From the fisheye images, SVF was calculated using Rayman, a public domain software developed by Andreas Matzarakis (http://www.mif.uni-freiburg.de/RayMan/).

  2. Table A.1, Annex A, ISO 9920 (ISO 2007).

  3. Accounting for a population of approximately 600,000 inhabitants (Glasgow), with a margin of error of 5 %, confidence level 95 % and response distribution of 33 % (comfort, discomfort due to cold or discomfort due to heat), a minimum of 340 respondents would be required.

  4. According to ISO 8996 (ISO 1990), an average man is 30 years old, weighs 70 kg and is 1.75 m tall; the average woman is 30 years old, weighs 60 kg and is 1.70 m tall.

  5. Table 2 of ISO 7730 shows three possible thresholds for the definition of the acceptable percentage of persons in thermal discomfort: TS = 0; −1 ≤ TS ≤ +1; −2 ≤ TS ≤ +2, the choice lying with the second threshold. Thus, comfortable conditions correspond to a maximum of 10 % dissatisfied.

  6. According to ISO 8996 (ISO 1990), an average man is 30 years old, weighs 70 kg and is 1.75 tall.

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Acknowledgements

The financial help provided by the Brazilian funding agencies CNPq and CAPES and instrumentation and analysis facilities provided by the School of Engineering and Built Environment at the Glasgow Caledonian University are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Construcao Civil, Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana, Rua Deputado Heitor Alencar Furtado, 4900, 81280-340 Curitiba, PR, Brazil

    Eduardo Krüger

  2. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Patricia Drach & Oscar Corbella

  3. School of Engineering and Built Environment, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK

    Rohinton Emmanuel

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  1. Eduardo Krüger
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  2. Patricia Drach
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  3. Rohinton Emmanuel
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  4. Oscar Corbella
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Correspondence to Eduardo Krüger.

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Krüger, E., Drach, P., Emmanuel, R. et al. Assessment of daytime outdoor comfort levels in and outside the urban area of Glasgow, UK. Int J Biometeorol 57, 521–533 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-012-0578-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-012-0578-y

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