Thermal perception in outdoor urban spaces under the Mediterranean climate of Annaba, Algeria

Abstract

Many studies were investigated to grade outdoor thermal comfort and related thermal sensation during the past years. This study aims to explore thermal comfort conditions and thermal sensation in the hot Mediterranean climate (Csa), which annually includes 1100-1700 cooling degree days and 1200-1800 heating degree days (CDD=1100-1700, HDD=1200-1800). This research tested the human thermal sensation by applying the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) index.A field survey of 1230 interviewees was conducted in Annaba, Algeria, in four outdoor environments having the same morphology and different green cover. The scientific method involved combining two software. Envi-met was used to calibrate microclimatic data (air temperature, wind velocity, relative humidity and mean radiant temperature); in comparison, RayMan used to calculate PET. The results showed the neutral sensation range for this Mediterranean climate varies between 20 °C and 26°C. The highest scores of neutral thermal sensation were recorded in spaces with vegetation cover, which involves the trees cooling effect in enhancing thermal comfort, especially during the hot hours of the day. The air temperature divergence reached 4°C and 3°C for T mrt at noon, considered the day's hottest hour. The findings also highlight the existence of a thermal adaptation in outdoor spaces having a green cover.

A Study on the Spatial Form of Traditional Villages in Jiangnan Region of China from the Perspective of Human Thermal Comfort ：A Case Study of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province

“…However, UTCI does not fully account for the in uence of clothing resistance and exhibits certain inaccuracies [56]. In this study, PET is employed as the indicator to quantify outdoor human thermal comfort, with its value calculated using RayMan software [11,56,57].…”

“…In 2020, Martina Petralli evaluated human thermal comfort in Cascine Park in Florence using physiological equivalent temperature and identi ed the signi cant impact of shading areas on the thermal comfort value of the site space [10]. Most research on microclimate and thermal comfort primarily focuses on urban space studies [11][12][13], speci cally studying different urban public spaces such as parks [14], squares [15], streets [16][17][18].…”

Multi-domain human-oriented approach to evaluate human comfort in outdoor environments

“…The experiment consisted of a walk from one park to another following a pre-defined path two times a day, at 2 pm and at 6 pm local time (that is, Central European Summer Time), for four consecutive days, from June 12 th to 15 th . The two times were selected for being symmetric to the hour with maximum air temperature (usually around 4 pm (Pioppi et al 2020 ; Labdaoui et al 2021 )). Hence, the first walk of the day took place while the heat level was increasing and the other while it was reducing.…”

Human thermal sensation and its algorithmic modelization under dynamic environmental thermal characteristics of vehicle cabin

“…Outdoor vehicle cabins and temporary cubicle environments are subject to a variety of dynamic environmental conditions such as climatic conditions and road environment 1–3 . The low insulation capacity and thermal storage properties of the cabin walls cause dynamic changes in the narrow thermal environment, compared to the building with higher insulation capacity in thick stone walls 4 .…”

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Outdoor vehicle cabins and temporary cubicle environments are subject to a variety of dynamic environmental conditions such as climatic conditions and road environment. [1][2][3] The low insulation capacity and thermal storage properties of the cabin walls cause dynamic changes in the narrow thermal environment, compared to the building with higher insulation capacity in thick stone walls. 4 On the contrary, input airflow of climate control systems or Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems causes rapid air temperature changes in narrow cabin spaces.

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