Biometeorology parameters

Biometeorology Module

With r3XXX a Biometeorology Module (Biomet_Mod) was implemented in PALM. It can provide spatially distributed values of the three thermal indices

• Perceived Temperature (PT, see Staiger et al. (2012))
• Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI, see Jendritzky et al. (2012))
• Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET, see Höppe (1993))

that describe thermal perception / thermal stress of a sample human being under the local meteorological conditions.

Steering:


NAMELIST group name: biometeorology_parameters

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The module is enabled as soon as the namelist biometeorology_parameters exists. The calculation of the individual indices can be switched off (default is on) by setting them to .F. This of course requires the Biomet_Mod to be enabled (see above).

Parameter Name	FORTRAN Type	Default Value	Explanation
biom_pt	L	.T.	Switch the calculation of Perceived Temperature off (.F.) or on (.T.).
biom_utci	L	.T.	Switch the calculation of Universal Thermal Climate Index off (.F.) or on (.T.).
biom_pet	L	.T.	Switch the calculation of Physiologically Equivalent Temperature off (.F.) or on (.T.).

Output

Output by the Biomet_Mod is always two dimensional and is provided for the cell level closest to 1.1 m above ground level. All parameters are available for instantaneous and time-averaged input. A list of output quantities can be found below. Output can be written to 2d and/or 3d files, where only the layer z=0 will be used. To enable the output of the given quantity, please add

quantity	long name	unit	input type (instantaneous or averaged)	output file (2d or 3d)
'biom_pt'	Perceived Temperature	°C	instantanious input	z=0 layer in 3d file
'biom_pet'	Physiologically Equivalent Temperature	°C	instantanious input	z=0 layer in 3d file
'biom_utci'	Universal Thermal Climate Index	°C	instantanious input	z=0 layer in 3d file
'biom_pt_av'	Perceived Temperature	°C	averaged input	z=0 layer in 3d file
'biom_pet_av'	Physiologically Equivalent Temperature	°C	averaged input	z=0 layer in 3d file
'biom_utci_av'	Universal Thermal Climate Index	°C	averaged input	z=0 layer in 3d file
'biom_pt_xy'	Perceived Temperature	°C	instantanious input	2d (xy) file
'biom_pet_xy'	Physiologically Equivalent Temperature	°C	instantanious input	2d (xy) file
'biom_utci_xy'	Universal Thermal Climate Index	°C	instantanious input	2d (xy) file
'biom_pt_xy_av'	Perceived Temperature	°C	averaged input	2d (xy) file
'biom_pet_xy_av'	Physiologically Equivalent Temperature	°C	averaged input	2d (xy) file
'biom_utci_xy_av'	Universal Thermal Climate Index	°C	averaged input	2d (xy) file

to the data_output section.

Proofs:

• Staiger, H.; Laschewski, G.; and Graetz, A., 2012: The perceived temperature - a versatile index for the assessment of the human thermal environment. Part A: scientific basics. International Journal of Biometeorology 56(1), 165–176. doi: 10.1007/s00484-011-0409-6.
• Jendritzky, G.; Dear, de R.; and Havenith, G., 2012: UTCI-Why another thermal index? Int J Biometeorol (56), 421–428.
• Höppe, P. R., 1999: The physiological equivalent temperature – a universal index for the biometeorological assessment of the thermal environment. Int J Biometeorol 43, 71–75.
  

UV Exposure Module

With r3XXX a UV exposure Module (uv_exposure_model_mod) was implemented in PALM. It calculates 2-dimensional maps of the vitamin D3-weighted UV exposure of a human for unobstructed environments (Seckmeyer at al., 2013) and obstructed environments (e.g. within a city) (Schrempf at al. 2017a, Schrempf at al. 2017b).

Steering:


NAMELIST group name: biometeorology_parameters

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The module is enabled as soon as the namelist biometeorology_parameters exists.

Parameter Name	FORTRAN Type	Default Value	Explanation
consider_obstructions	L	.T.	Considers obstruction (e.g. from buildings and trees). .T.: Switch consider obstructions ON .F.: Switch consider obstructions OFF Obstructions file must be calculated manually before the simulation and provided as NetCDF in the INPUT folder.
clothing	I	1	Choose clothing outfit for human model. Value 0: no clothing (also no hair). Value 1: Spring /Summer outfit (arms, hands & face exposed). Value 2: Winter outfit (only, hands & face exposed).
orientation_angle	F	180.0	Orientation angle of front/face of the human model. Only active if also parameter turn_to_sun is set to 0.
sun_in_south	L	.F.	Azimuthal position of the sun. If sun_in_south = .True., the azimuthal position of the sun is always in south direction (180°). If sun_in_south = .False., the actual azimuthal position of the sun is calculated based of the respective parameter values within the simulation. The fixed solar azimuth angle only applies to the exposure model and does not affect other modules of Palm. The following parameters are used as input for the solar position calculation: time_utc_init, day_of_year_init, latitude & longitude. Independent of the setting of this parameter, the solar zenith angle (SZA) is not fixed and will always change dependent on date and time.
turn_to_sun	L	.T.	Orientation of the front/face of the human model. IF turn_to_sun = .True., the front/face of the human model is always orientated in direction of the sun. IF turn_to_sun = .False., the front/face of the human model is orientated towards a specific direction (set by the parameter orientation_angle).

Output

Output by the human exposure model is always two dimensional and is provided for the ground cell. Available output of the exposure is instantaneous data and doses (sum of instantaneous data). A list of output quantities can be found below. To enable the output add the respective quantity to the data_output section of the namelist.

quantity	long name	unit	Remarks
'uvem_vitd3*_xy'	Vitamin D3-weighted exposure	IU/s
'uvem_vitd3dose*_xy'	Vitamin D3-weighted exposure	IU	In this case the "_xy" ending does not mean average but results in a summation of all the instantaneous exposure values of the respective grid points instead.

Proofs:

• Seckmeyer, G., Schrempf, M., Wieczorek, A., Riechelmann, S., Graw, K., Seckmeyer, S., and Zankl, M.: A Novel Method to Calculate Solar UV Exposure Relevant to Vitamin D Production in Humans, Photochem. Photobiol., 89(4), 974-983, DOI: 10.1111/php.12074., 2013.
• Schrempf, M., Thuns, N., Lange, K., and Seckmeyer, G.: Einuss der Verschattung auf die Vitamin-D-gewichtete UV-Exposition eines Menschen, Aktuelle Derm, DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-105258., 2017.
• Schrempf, M., Thuns, N., Lange, K., and Seckmeyer, G.: Impact of Orientation on the Vitamin D Weighted Exposure of a Human in an Urban Environment, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 14(8), 920, DOI: 10.3390/ijerph14080920., 2017.