TITLE:
An Assessment of Bioclimatic Conditions for Tourists—A Case Study of Mashhad, Iran
AUTHORS:
Reza Esmaili, Gholamabbas Fallah Ghalhari
KEYWORDS:
Bio-Climate; Climate-Comfort; Nowruz Holidays; Mashhad
JOURNAL NAME:
Atmospheric and Climate Sciences,
Vol.4 No.1,
January
23,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Weather and
climate have a double-edged effect on tourism. It can be considered both as a
limiting and a developing factor for tourism. In this regard, having access to
precise bio-climatic information can be of high use to enhance the quality of
tourism services. This study has evaluated the Bio-climatic conditions of the
tourists in Mashhad, a North-Eastern city in Iran, through
the use of thermo-physiological indicator of physiological equivalent
temperature (PET). Studies have been done for the hours of 9:30, 12:30 and
21:30 of the local time using the statistical data of the period between 1978
and 2007. According to the results, the longest period of climatic-comfort-hours
is around 21:30 (mainly in June, July, and August), and the shortest duration
of climatic-comfort-hours is around 9:30 (sporadically assessed in April, May
and October). The Bio-climatic conditions during the Nowruz Holidays are only
comfortable in the evenings. Especially, there is the challenge of cold stress
in the mornings and more specifically, at nights. However, the best condition
of the whole assessed times in summer holidays (that is June 22nd to September 23rd) is at 21:30. Summer days are not ideal for
tourism due to the heat stress. The daily change of PET index shows a Gaussian
curve, the peak of which (indicative of too much heat stress) shows July, and
non-stress condition can be seen on both sides of this curve.