Bioclimatic comfort of urbanized territories in Belarus

   The results of the bioclimatic comfort assessment of urbanized areas in Belarus using the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) are presented. For the period 2023–2025, patterns of thermal regime transformation in all urban settlements were identified by comparing them with background meteorological station conditions, based on reanalysis data and modeling of surface parameters (sky view factor, roughness). It was established that the spatial distribution of the index follows geographical zonality (increasing from northeast to southwest), which is disrupted within cities under the influence of land-use patterns. The study demonstrates a prevalence of comfortable conditions (41.0 % of the time) and the absence of extreme stress categories on an annual average; the intra-annual dynamics of the thermal stress structure are also presented. It was revealed that urban development increases UTCI values by an average of 1.3…3.4 °C, which extends the duration of comfortable conditions by 5.7 p. p. Furthermore, a modulation effect on extreme thermal stress was observed. For the first time, it is shown that in the temperate climate of Belarus, urban morphology currently affects the frequency and duration of heat waves during the summer period. The results demonstrate the specific impact of urbanization in temperate latitudes and can be utilized in urban environment planning.

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