Comparative analysis of the outdoor thermal comfort in urban environments - case study of Bijeljina and Loznica

Abstract

This paper presents the comparative analysis of the Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC) of two urban environments - Bijeljina (Republic of Srpska) and Loznica (Serbia). Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI), which represents the heat stress of the human organism caused by meteorological conditions, was used as a measure of thermal comfort in the study. The main goal of the research was to monitor changes in the index values, as well as the frequency of various categories of thermal stress during the hottest summer months (June, July, August), over a ten-year period (2009-2018). For the purpose of determining the UTCI index, mean daily values of meteorological data were used, which were measured at the weather stations Bijeljina (44° 75’ N, 19° 20’ E, 97m) and Loznica (44° 32’ N, 19° 14’ E, 121m). The obtained results show a gradual change in the bioclimatic conditions of these areas, which are generally less favorable during July and August, somewhat more in Bijeljina, then in Loznica.