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Investigating beach tourism climate of Mazandaran Province emphasizing the sustainable development approach using beach climate index (BCI) and physiologically equivalent temperature (PET)

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Abstract

The present study aimed to review the spatiotemporal distribution of tourism climate conditions in Mazandaran province using two indicators, i.e., physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) and beach climate index (BCI) in the ArcGIS software environment. To calculate these two indicators and meet the research objectives, time series-based daily data from the Mazandaran province’s 15 meteorological stations from 1980 to 2018 were utilized. Consistent with the models and methods applied, climatic elements typically including relative humidity, wind speed, monthly sun radiation, monthly rainfall, average daily temperature, and monthly sea-level pressure, cloudiness, and the number of foggy days were used. After PET and BCI indicator values were calculated, the statistical method of interpolation was employed in the ArcGIS software environment to provide zoning maps of tourism activities using tourism climate indices, along with the least interpolation errors. Results from the BCI and PET indicators on tourism climate across the Mazandaran province on a monthly scale suggested that different patterns of tourism comfort index were noted between coastal and mountainous areas at different times of the year. In autumn and spring days, the beach comfort index indicated a more desirable condition in coastal parts of the province, especially the eastern coasts. In the same period, cold stress dominated in mountainous areas, reducing the quality of the climate comfort index as compared to coastal areas. However, in the summer months, because of thermal stress on the coasts, mountainous areas saw a better climate quality in terms of PET and BCI indicators.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Islamic Azad University, Noor Branch, Noor, Iran

    Abdolkarim Baei Lashaki & Sadroddin Motevalli

  2. Department of Geography, Islamic Azad University, Noor Branch, Noor, Iran

    Gholamreza Janbaz Ghobadi

Authors
  1. Abdolkarim Baei Lashaki
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  2. Sadroddin Motevalli
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  3. Gholamreza Janbaz Ghobadi
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Contributions

Abdolkarim Baei Lashakai: constructing an idea or hypothesis for research and/or manuscript/taking responsibility in the construction of the whole of the manuscript, constructing an idea or hypothesis for research and/or manuscript; Sadroddin Motevalli: organizing and supervising the course of the project or the article and taking the responsibility, taking responsibility in execution of the experiments; Gholamreza Janbaz Ghobadi: planning methodology to reach the conclusion.

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Correspondence to Sadroddin Motevalli.

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Lashaki, A.B., Motevalli, S. & Ghobadi, G.J. Investigating beach tourism climate of Mazandaran Province emphasizing the sustainable development approach using beach climate index (BCI) and physiologically equivalent temperature (PET). Theor Appl Climatol 150, 1253–1269 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-022-04177-3

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