Análise climatológica de diferentes indices de conforto térmico em Alagoas

Abstract

This work evaluated the spatial distribution of human thermal comfort using four different bioclimatic comfort indices, with data observed from 1980 to 2016, in Alagoas. Daily time series of mean temperature and relative humidity for each municipality were extracted from a high-resolution grid analysis available for all of Brazil, based on surface observations. The Heat Index (HI), Relative Strain Index (RSI), Tempearture-Humidity Index (THI) and Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) were calculated and spatialized. Each of these indices makes it possible to assess the comfort conditions of the population in open environments from different perspectives: association with heat waves, health problems in people with greater sensitivity to heat, population discomfort or risks associated with exposure, mainly of workers directly exposed to the environmental conditions. The results indicated that temperature and humidity are distributed differently during the seasons, in a north-south gradient for temperature and east-west for humidity. The indices were analyzed from their seasonal and annual climatological averages. Summer stood out for all indices as the preferred season of risks associated with heat and winter as the season in which comfort predominates. The hypsometry of Alagoas proved to be decisive in separating the areas of greater attention from those with lower risks associated with heat.