Analysis of Urban Comfort Level in Java Island Based on Air Temperature and Air Quality in 2015 – 2019

Abstract

The island of Java as the center of activity in Indonesia is experiencing uncontrolled urbanization and industrialization. Urbanization and industrialization are sources of air pollution and increases in air temperature, which can increase the risk of health problems for humans and reduce the comfort level of the city. The assessment of the comfort level based on air temperature uses an outdoor thermal comfort (OTC) index, namely universal thermal climate index (UTCI) and physiological equivalent temperature (PET) as well as air quality assessment based on Air Quality Guideline (AQG) criteria. This study focuses on assessing the comfort level of cities in Java based on the relationship between temperature and air quality human health levels in 2015 to 2019, in 10 cities, namely Jakarta, Bandung, Surabaya, Semarang, Tasikmalaya, Malang, Surakarta, Yogyakarta, Cilegon, and Tegal. The technique used is narrative review, recapitulation of secondary data sources from remote sensing and health data. The year 2019 was classified as extreme because there were indications of strong heat stress in 9 cities based on UTCI criteria and there were 3 cities classified as strong heat stress based on PET criteria. The PM2.5 concentration in Malang and Surabaya is at an unsafe level, while the CO concentration is safe based on the AQG. The recapitulation of health data shows an increase in cases of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in Malang, Jakarta, and Tasikmalaya cities which is in line with the trend of data on increasing air temperature and PM2.5 concentrations.