Evaluation of microclimates and assessment of thermal comfort of Panthera leo in the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya

Engineered bioclimatic responses in ancient settlements: a case study

The Mandya district of Karnataka, India, houses a unique Jain settlement constructed about 1000 years ago. Recent excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) indicate a high degree of engineering skills among the builders of this settlement. Adapting to heat-stresses in a region where the Monsoons often failed was and is still a matter of concern. Ingenious methods were adopted to modulate bioclimatic responses to maintain thermal comfort indices. The Aretippurians used composite building fabrics which modulated heat transfer to the interiors. Indeed, the thermal transmittances for these composite fabrics were low to moderate for both the temple complexes as well as the dormitories; these were 0.27 Wm^-1K^-1 and 0.23 Wm^-1K^-1, respectively. A site visit revealed that a unique and engineered micro-climate was also made to prevail on this hilltop settlement housing several hundred Jain settlers. A granite skirted reservoir was indeed the pièce-de-résistance promoting hydraulic air-conditioning for eight months of the year around the premises with copious winds blowing over a large and exposed rain-fed reservoir. This fanned chilled air across the open plan temples, courtyards, and lived-in areas. This paper explores bioclimatic responses for around 120 residents to the prevailing indoor settings modulated by an engineered microclimate. This was possible because of the staggered layout, unique building forms, use of mixed building fabric, and carefully chosen glazing ratios which yielded salubrious settings. Clearly, this entailed a complex interplay between the intercepted solar insolation, structure-driven turbulence, and the transfer of heat across the original composite walls within and around the complex, requiring a systematic experimental as well as modelling study. The experimental part of the project involved the calculation of the thermal transmittivity across the walls made up of fired bricks, granite, and limestone, and the theoretical part involved the use of appropriate software to reconstruct air flow and heat distribution across floors, walls, and ceilings to proxy the original flow pattern yielding the comfortable PMV (predicted mean vote) and PET (physiological equivalent temperature) values within these premises. This exercise may well lead to further explorations on indoor comfort adaptations in tropical settings with the use of many edifying vernacular idioms in ancient settlements which prevail even in modern layouts.

Integrating Microclimate into Landscape Architecture for Outdoor Thermal Comfort: A Systematic Review

Global climate change and urban heat island intensification are making many cities dangerously hot during heat waves and uncomfortably hot much of the time. Research has identified ways that urban environments can be designed to reduce the heat, but much of the information is too technical or has not been interpreted or communicated so as to be available to landscape architects. This study identifies ways that landscape architecture researchers have applied microclimate information in design to proactively create more thermally comfortable outdoor environments. A systematic review that assessed the growing recognition of microclimatic factors in design revealed four main approaches: principles and guidelines, strategies, mapping, and evaluation. The advantages and limitations of each have been noted, and a diagram has been developed that matches each approach with specific steps in the landscape architectural design process. The study also identified four areas where microclimate has potential for use in landscape architecture but that are currently not being very actively studied: education, modeling and visualization, policy, and ideation. Microclimatic design has the potential to enhance the health and well-being of the public through the design of thermally comfortable outdoor environments.

Perspectives on biometeorological research on the African continent

Since the first issue of the International Journal of Biometeorology in 1957, a total of 135 papers have reported on research in or of African countries. The majority of these have been on topics of animal biometeorology (36%), and the greatest proportion (24%) are situated in Nigeria. There has been a considerable increase in papers on African biometeorology since 2011, with those from this past decade accounting for 58% of all African papers in the journal. This occurs concurrent to an increase in the total number of papers published in the journal, driven by a move to the Editorial Manager system. While 66% of the papers on African biometeorology in the journal are authored by at least one person with an affiliation in the African continent, only 15 African countries are represented in the total authorship. As much of the African continent is projected to experience climatic changes exceeding the global mean, as much of the region is involved in animal and plant farming, and as seasonally-fluctuating and climatically affected diseases are common place, this low representation of work in Africa is surprising. This points to the need for greater awareness among African researchers of the discipline of biometeorology, greater involvement of African biometeorologists in International Society of Biometeorology and Commission meetings, and the inclusion of a greater number of African academics in the review process. This would be beneficial to the Society in increasing diversity and encouraging a more cosmopolitan engagement, and to the recognition of scientific development in African countries.