Can Heat Waves Fully Capture Outdoor Human Thermal Stress? A Pilot Investigation in a Mediterranean City
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In addition to air temperature and personal factors, other weather quantities govern the outdoor human thermal perception. This study provides a new targeted approach for the evaluation of extreme events based on a specific multivariable bioclimate index. Heat waves (HWs) and outdoor human thermal stress (OHTS) events that occurred in downtown Rome (Italy) over the years 2018–2023 are identified, characterized, and compared through appropriate indices based on the air temperature for HWs and the Mediterranean Outdoor Comfort Index (MOCI) for OHTS events. The overlap between the two types of events is evaluated for each year through the hit (HR) and false alarm rates. The outcomes reveal severe traits for HWs and OHTS events and higher values of HR (minimum of 66%) with OHTS as a predictor of extreme conditions. This pilot investigation confirms that the use of air temperature threshold underestimates human physiological stress, revealing the importance of including multiple parameters, such as weather variables (temperature, wind speed, humidity, and solar radiation) and personal factors, in the assessment of hazards for the population living in a specific geographical region. This type of approach reveals increasingly critical facets and can provide key strategies to establish safe outdoor conditions for occupational and leisure activities.
Source: Atmosphere
Language: English
Topic: Urban Heat Island Mitigation
Subfield: Environmental Engineering
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,896
OpenAlex ID: W4414656769