Exploring the pattern of outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) in a tropical planning region of eastern India during summer

Assessment Outdoor Thermal Comfort (OTC) level in urban environment is necessary for effective climate sensitive planning. Particularly in Indian context it is important due to unplanned and haphazard urban expansion. This study aims to assess OTC using a micro level land use and land cover (LU/LC) classification system known as Local Climatic Zones (LCZs) on Sriniketan-Santiniketan Planning Area (SSPA) in Eastern India. Two thermal indices - Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) and Temperature Humidity Index (THI) as well as several statistical tools (coefficient of variation, ANOVA and correlation) have been used to assess OTC. The result of the study showed that there were a variation of thermal comfort level over LCZs. Result of UTCI and THI recorded that highest maximum UTCI and THI were found over LCZ(3), LCZ(6) and LCZ(9) that largely dominated by built up. On the other hand, relatively low UTCI and THI were recorded over natural land covers such as forest cover, water bodies. In all the built up LCZs, thermal sensation of the respondents ranges from warm to very hot because of impervious surface cover. The result of the study can contribute a lot in understanding the thermal comfort of a sub-tropical planning region and it may also inspire planners and policy makers to integrate OTC into proposed planning strategies for the improvement of thermal ambiance.