Daily and seasonal variabilities of thermal stress (based on the UTCI) in air masses typical for Central Europe: an exam
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SPECIAL ISSUE: UTCI - 10 YEARS OF APPLICATIONS
Daily and seasonal variabilities of thermal stress (based on the UTCI) in air masses typical for Central Europe: an example from Warsaw Monika Okoniewska 1 Received: 7 November 2019 / Revised: 14 July 2020 / Accepted: 11 August 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The objective of research involved the comparison of daily and seasonal courses of thermal stress occurring in Central Europe depending on the inflowing air mass. The analysis used data from Warsaw (1991–2000), including air temperature (°C), water vapour pressure (hPa), wind speed (m s−1) and cloud cover (%). Universal thermal climate index was calculated and subsequently averaged for the individual months and four types of atmospheric air masses: polar maritime (mP), arctic(A), polar continental (cP) and tropical (T). The studies analysed differences in daily patterns of the averaged values of universal thermal climate index between air masses and determined the frequency of days with various types of thermal stress in individual air masses. The analyses indicated that under the conditions of Central Europe, the highest daily variance of biothermal conditions occurs between the masses of cP and T in the spring and autumn. Considerably greater diversity of biothermal conditions was observed between the masses during daytime compared with nighttime, especially in the warm half of the year. The thermal stress, which can be encountered in Central Europe, ranges from an “extreme cold stress” in winter at night and early morning hours to “very strong heat stress” in summer at noon. Extreme thermal stress is related primarily to the masses of cP, A and T. The most optimal biothermal conditions occur during the advection of mP air. Keywords Thermal stress . UTCI . Daily and seasonal changes . Air masses . Central Europe
Introduction The area of Central Europe is located in zone influenced by air masses from the west—flowing from over the Atlantic Ocean, as well as from the east, from the Asian continent. Moreover, air masses from the north and the south collide above it. Such diverse advection of different masses of atmospheric air is associated with the considerable diversity of climatic (Bartoszek 2017; Bąkowska 2005; Kożuchowski and Żmudzka 2002; Nowosad and Stach 2014; Sepp and Jaagus 2002; Ustrnul 2006; Ustrnul and Czekierda 2002; Ustrnul and
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-020-01997-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Monika Okoniewska [email protected] 1
Institute of Geography, Kazimierz Wielki University, Koscielecki Sq. 8, 85-033 Bydgoszcz, Poland
Wypych 2011) and bioclimatic conditions (Bąkowska and Więcław 2009; Błażejczyk et al. 2003; Nowosad et al. 2013; Okoniewska 2016). Because each of the air masses are characterised by different physical conditions, shaping other weather situations at the individual times of the year and day, one should also expect considerable variability o
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