Thermal comfort of users of a park located in one of the hottest cities in Brazil

Abstract

Abstract Carried out for the first time, this study assessed the microclimate and thermal comfort of users of the Das Águas Park in Cuiabá, which is one of the hottest cities in Brazil. Air temperature, relative humidity, globe temperature, and wind speed were measured using moving transects at 10 points on the park’s walking track for a total of 365 measurements. Mobile transect data were validated using an official weather meteorological station and thermal comfort data were simulated using Rayman software. Regarding the characterization of the microclimate, the air temperature ranged from 17.5 to 34.6°C and the relative humidity from 42.6 to 84.8%, with wind speed ≤ 1.6 m s-1. The park’s walking track also had points without thermal comfort, most of which had strong heat stress and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) values ranging from 17.8–38.8°C. The findings of this study reinforce the importance of research that assists the construction of new urban parks in cities with extreme climates, in order to mitigate the effects of urbanization on their microclimate and on the thermal comfort of the park’s human population.