Evaluation of thermal comfort and human health using Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) Case Study: Kurdistan province

Assessing human bioclimatic is foundation for many programs and plans, especially in the field of healthcare. In this study, human thermal comfort and its relationship with the incidence of diseases were investigated in Kurdistan province. The daily data of temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and cloudiness between the years 1995-2014 were used. In the First step, Tmrt parameter was calculated in the Ray Man software environment. Then, UTCI index values were calculated using Bioklima software. In the final step, the climatic comfort zones were drawn in the ArcMap software. It was found that the UTCI values change from 20 to -23. Bijar and Zarrineh stations have the highest cold stress conditions. The calculated values showed that severe cold stress conditions prevail in most parts of the province almost throughout the year. The correlation coefficient values showed that the highest correlation with the height was observed in the cold months of the year (December- February). The results of UTCI zoning also showed that the central parts of the province consistent with the higher altitude areas had severe stress conditions. The research showed that the province is faced with moderate to severe stresses in terms of human stress conditions. In the cold periods of the year, it will be more severe and more cold conditions are experienced in high places.