Evaluation of Thermal Environments during the Heat Waves of Summer 2013 in Busan Metropolitan Area

Now a days, frequency of abnormally high temperatures like heat wave by global warming and climate change is increasing constantly and the number of patient with heat related illness are jumping rapidly. In this study, we chose the case day for the heat wave in Busan area(Busan and Yangsan), 2013 which it was the most hottest year during 21th century. And then, we analysed the weather condition using automatic synoptic observing system(ASOS) data. Also, four indices, heat index(HI), wet bulb globe temperature(WBGT), Man-ENvironment heat EXchange model(MENEX)'s results like Physiological subjective temperature(PST), Physiological strain(PhS), were calculated to evaluate the thermal comfort and stress quantitatively. However, thermal comfort was different as the each station and thermal comfort index during same time. Busan's thermal indices (HI: hot, WBGT: sweltering, PST: very hot, PhS: very hot) indicated relatively higher than Yansan's (HI: very hot, WBGT: sweltering, PST: very hot, PhS: sweltering). It shows that Busan near coast is relatively more comfortable than Yangsan located in inland.