IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i21p15286-d1267332.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Long-Term Assessment of Bioclimatic Conditions at Micro and Local Scales in the Cities of the Western Part of the Balkan Peninsula during the 21st Century

Author

Listed:
  • Dejana Đurđević

    (Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia)

  • Milica Vasić

    (Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia)

  • Matej Ogrin

    (Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia)

  • Stevan Savić

    (Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia)

  • Dragan Milošević

    (Meteorology and Air Quality Group, Hydrology and Environmental Hydraulics Group, Wageningen University & Research, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands)

  • Jelena Dunjić

    (Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia)

  • Ivan Šećerov

    (Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia)

  • Matej Žgela

    (Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia)

  • Marijana Boras

    (Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia)

  • Ivana Herceg Bulić

    (Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia)

  • Milica Pecelj

    (Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić”, Serbian Academy of Science and Arts, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

  • Sanda Šušnjar

    (Department of Geography, Faculty of Philosophy, University of East Sarajevo, 71123 East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

  • Milica Lukić

    (Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

  • Marko Ivanišević

    (Department of Spatial Planning, Faculty of Sciences, University of Banja Luka, 78000 Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

  • Goran Trbić

    (Department of Spatial Planning, Faculty of Sciences, University of Banja Luka, 78000 Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

  • Golub Ćulafić

    (Institute of Hydrometeorology and Seismology, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro)

  • Luka Mitrović

    (Faculty of Tourism, Mediterranean University Podgorica, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro)

Abstract

Thermal comfort assessments at local or micro-scales within urban areas can provide crucial insights for the urban adaptation strategies pertaining to climate-conscious urban planning and public health. However, the availability of long-term or mid-term daily or hourly meteorological data sets from urban environments remains a significant challenge even in the 21st century. Consequently, this study aimed to assess the thermal conditions in cities across the western part of the Balkan Peninsula, encompassing five countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro), by utilizing the Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) index. Meteorological data sets, comprising air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and cloudiness, were collected from 32 national meteorological stations/measurement locations spanning the period from 2001 to 2020. The PET calculations were conducted based on meteorological data measured three times per day (7 a.m., 2 p.m., and 9 p.m.). Upon conducting a spatial analysis of the meteorological stations, it was observed that most of them (25 stations) were situated within built-up areas or urban suburbs, rendering them highly relevant for local or micro-scale climate and bioclimate assessments. The findings revealed that urban locations exhibited slightly higher PET heat stress levels, particularly during the summer season and at 2 p.m. Moreover, higher average PET values were observed in both urban and non-urban stations situated within a continental climate during warmer periods, such as summer. In contrast, during the colder seasons, namely winter and spring, higher PET values were prevalent in the Mediterranean region. Furthermore, the PET frequency analysis revealed a greater prevalence of extreme and severe heat stress levels in stations within continental climates, particularly those located in urban areas, as compared to stations in Mediterranean climates. In contrast, during the winter and spring seasons, monitoring stations in close proximity to the Adriatic Sea, characterized by a Mediterranean climate, exhibited significantly lower levels of cold stress compared to inland stations. Evidently, in addition to the climatic characteristics and surrounding terrain, the urban morphology significantly impacts the thermal conditions within cities.

Suggested Citation

  • Dejana Đurđević & Milica Vasić & Matej Ogrin & Stevan Savić & Dragan Milošević & Jelena Dunjić & Ivan Šećerov & Matej Žgela & Marijana Boras & Ivana Herceg Bulić & Milica Pecelj & Sanda Šušnjar & Mili, 2023. "Long-Term Assessment of Bioclimatic Conditions at Micro and Local Scales in the Cities of the Western Part of the Balkan Peninsula during the 21st Century," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-24, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:21:p:15286-:d:1267332
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/21/15286/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/21/15286/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:21:p:15286-:d:1267332. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.