Assessment of urban thermal stress by UTCI – experimental and modelling studies: an example from Poland

Authors

  • Krzysztof Błażejczyk University of Warsaw, Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warszawa
  • Magdalena Kuchcik Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa
  • Anna Błażejczyk Bioklimatologia. Laboratory of Bioclimatology and Environmental Ergonomics, Lukowska 17/55, 04-133 Warszawa
  • Pawel Milewski Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa
  • Jakub Szmyd Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818 Warszawa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12854/erde-145-3

Keywords:

Urban heat stress, Universal Thermal Climate Index, local bioclimatic variability, Warsaw, Poland

Abstract

The paper presents a new approach to the study of the spatial variability of heat stress in urban areas. The Universal Thermal Climate Index UTCI was applied for this purpose. The spatial variability of UTCI at the local scale was studied using examples of urban areas with different sizes and geographical locations. The experimental research on urban heat stress was conducted in Warsaw. The research covers both differences between UTCI in urban to rural areas as well as the variation of heat stress within small residential districts in Warsaw. We found a very large and significant heat stress gradient between downtown Warsaw and rural stations. Spatial variability of UTCI was also observed in microclimate research. A modelling approach was presented based on examples from Warsaw, a city with a population of almost 2 million, as well as examples from several spa towns with populations of up to 40,000 located in various parts of Poland. GIS analysis (ArcGIS for Desktop and IDRISI) was applied for this purpose.

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Published

2014-09-02

How to Cite

Błażejczyk, K., Kuchcik, M., Błażejczyk, A., Milewski, P., & Szmyd, J. (2014). Assessment of urban thermal stress by UTCI – experimental and modelling studies: an example from Poland. DIE ERDE – Journal of the Geographical Society of Berlin, 145(1-2), 16–33. https://doi.org/10.12854/erde-145-3

Issue

Vol. 145 No. 1-2 (2014): Urban climate and heat stress – Part 2

Section

Research articles

License

Creative Commons License

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Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.