Selection of the Gridded Temperature Dataset for Assessment of Thermal Bioclimatic Environment Changes in Amu Darya River Basin

Assessment of the thermal bioclimatic environmental changes is important to understand ongoing climate change implications on agriculture, ecology, and human health. This is particularly important for the climatologically diverse transboundary Amy Darya River basin, a major source of water and livelihood for millions in Central Asia. However, the absence of longer period observed temperature data is a major obstacle for such analysis. This study employed a novel approach by integrating compromise programming (CP) and multicriteria group decision–making methods (MCGDM) to evaluate the efficiency of four global gridded temperature datasets based on observation data at 44 stations. The most reliable gridded data was used to assess the spatial distribution of global warming-induced unidirectional trends in thermal bioclimatic indicators (TBI) using a modified Mann-Kendall (MMK) test. Ranking of the products revealed Climate Prediction Center (CPC) temperature as most efficient in reconstruction observed temperature, followed by TerraClimate and Climate Research Unit (CRU). Assessment of TBI trends using CPC data revealed an increase in the minimum temperature in the coldest month over the whole basin at a rate of 0.03 to 0.08\(℃\) per decade, except in the east. Besides, an increase in diurnal temperature range and isothermally increased in the east up to 0.2\(℃\) and 0.6% per decade, respectively. The results revealed negative implications of thermal bioclimatic change on water, ecology, and public health in the eastern mountainous region and positive impacts on vegetation in the west and northwest.

Modern assessment methods of comfort of bioclimatic conditions for resort areas

The modern approaches to assessing the comfort of bioclimatic conditions for rational recreational activities are analyzed. A review of modern domestic and foreign methods is carried out and their advantages and disadvantages in assessing the thermal comfort of a human are identified. Most of the bioclimatic indicators used are now considered outdated, since they do not take into account human physiological reactions. Many foreign authors are increasingly using in their practice more complex thermal bioclimatic indices based on the human energy balance. In Russia, such studies are still rare. From the indices based on the human heat balance, the paper considers the following: Physiological equivalent temperature (PET), Perceived temperature (PMV), Universal thermal climate index (UTCI). The main algorithms for calculating bioclimatic indices are proposed. The calculations use the complete human thermal balance equation and all parameters that affect human comfort. Calculation of bioclimatic indices of this type is considered to be a more effective method for assessing the comfort of bioclimatic conditions for territories intended for the organization of health-improving recreation and tourism. The noted indices have a greater variability of values ​​and, therefore, a higher informational significance in comparison with other bioclimatic indicators that are simpler in calculations, such as, for example, equivalent effective temperature (EET) and biologically active temperature (BAT). Thus, the conducted review of existing methods for assessing bioclimatic indicators identified their advantages and disadvantages, which is important for the subsequent selection of the most optimal method suitable for a particular recreational area with appropriate weather and climatic conditions.

A new global dataset of bioclimatic indicators

This study presents a new global gridded dataset of bioclimatic indicators at 0.5° by 0.5° resolution for historical and future conditions. The dataset, called CMCC-BioClimInd, provides a set of 35 bioclimatic indices, expressed as mean values over each time interval, derived from post-processing both climate reanalysis for historical period (1960–1999) and an ensemble of 11 bias corrected CMIP5 simulations under two greenhouse gas concentration scenarios for future climate projections along two periods (2040–2079 and 2060–2099). This new dataset complements the availability of spatialized bioclimatic information, crucial aspect in many ecological and environmental wide scale applications and for several disciplines, including forestry, biodiversity conservation, plant and landscape ecology. The data of individual indicators are publicly available for download in the commonly used Network Common Data Form 4 (NetCDF4) format.

Spatial Pattern of the Unidirectional Trends in Thermal Bioclimatic Indicators in Iran

Changes in bioclimatic indicators can provide valuable information on how global warming induced climate change can affect humans, ecology and the environment. Trends in thermal bioclimatic indicators over the diverse climate of Iran were assessed in this study to comprehend their spatio-temporal changes in different climates. The gridded temperature data of Princeton Global Meteorological Forcing with a spatial resolution of 0.25° and temporal extent of 1948–2010 was used for this purpose. Autocorrelation and wavelets analyses were conducted to assess the presence of self-similarity and cycles in the data series. The modified version of the Mann–Kendall (MMK) test was employed to estimate unidirectional trends in 11 thermal bioclimatic indicators through removing the influence of natural cycles on trend significance. A large decrease in the number of grid points showing significant trends was noticed for the MMK in respect to the classical Mann–Kendall (MK) test which indicates that the natural variability of the climate should be taken into consideration in bioclimatic trend analyses in Iran. The unidirectional trends obtained using the MMK test revealed changes in almost all of the bioclimatic indicators in different parts of Iran, which indicates rising temperature have significantly affected the bioclimate of the country. The semi-dry region along the Persian Gulf in the south and mountainous region in the northeast were found to be more affected in terms of the changes in a number of bioclimatic indicators.

Analysis of equivalent temperature - case of Kragujevac city

A more complete climate image of a site is obtained by analyzing bioclimatic indicators. In this paper, an analysis of the physiological sense of heat in the territory of the city of Kragujevac was presented. Bioclimatic considerations are based on the equivalent temperature, which represents the combined influence of air temperature and water vapor pressure. Based on these two climatic elements, the corresponding equations and the Kr?ger anthropo-climatic classifications, three climate types and nine physiological sensations of heat for the territory of the city of Kragujevac were isolated. Their significance in bioclimatology is that they cause different sensations of heat in healthy and sick people, and can serve as the basis for the expected types of bioclimate during the year. Urban areas are areas of higher population concentration to which the climate elements act stimulating or, on the contrary, discouraging, which depends on the person's health. For the needs of this work, a thirty-year climate period (1981-2010) was analyzed based on the data obtained from the weather station Kragujevac. There are significant historical and tourist sites and natural resources in the city and its surroundings, which can be valorized complementarily. Analyzed values of equivalent temperatures can be used for the planning of tourist activities and in means of tourist propaganda. For this purpose, this work can be a solid bioclimatic basis.