Outdoor Thermal Comfort; North Africa; Algeria; Oasis; RayMan; QGIS
Abstract :
[en] Oasis settlements are the most common form in the Saharan regions of North Africa, identified by a strong harmony between urban forms and palm groves, which present the economic capital for these regions. On the other hand, these oases are significantly growing and impacting people’s livelihood and thermal well-being, especially during the summer season. This study aims at first to identify the close correlation between cultivated area (palm grove) and the built-up area throughout the Tolga Oasis Complex in Algeria, which is recognised by its palm groves and well-known as one of the largest oasis settlements of the Saharan regions in North Africa. Furthermore, the current work assesses the impact of palm groves by investigating the ‘oasis effect’ on the thermal heat stress levels during July and August daytime hours within 9 conducted stations. Surprisingly, the so-called oasis effect generated by palm groves was insignificant during the extremely hot days. On the other hand, the palm groves were extremely hot affected by a warming effect during daytime hours.
Research Center/Unit :
Sustainable Building Design (SBD) Lab, Université de Liège, Belgium. Department of Architecture, University of Biskra, Algeria. Department of Architecture, BUITEMS Quetta, Pakistan. Department of Architecture, University of Guelma, Algeria
Disciplines :
Architecture
Author, co-author :
Matallah, Mohamed Elhadi; University of Biskra, Biskra 07000, Algeria > Laboratory of Design and Modelling of Architectural and Urban Forms and Ambiances (LACOMOFA), Department of Architecture
Djamel, Alkama; University of Guelma, Guelma 24000, Algeria > Department of Architecture
Coté, M. (Ed.). (2005). La ville et le désert: le Bas-Sahara algérien. Karthala Éditions.
Côte, M. (2012). Signatures sahariennes: terroirs & territoires vus du ciel. Méditerranée.
Matallah, M. E., Alkama, D., Ahriz, A., & Attia, S. (2020). Assessment of the Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Oases Settlements. Atmosphere, 11(2), 185.
Djamel, Alkama, and Pr TACHERIFT ABDELMALEK. 2008. "Essai d'analyse typo-morphologique des noyaux urbains traditionnels dans la région des Ziban."
born Bouzaher, S. L., & Alkama, D. (2013). The requalification of the palm trees of Ziban as a tool for sustainable planning. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 102, 508-519.
Matallah, M. E., Alkama, D., Teller, J., Ahriz, A., & Attia, S. (2021). Quantification of the Outdoor Thermal Comfort within Different Oases Urban Fabrics. Sustainability, 13(6), 3051.
Ahriz, A., Fezzai, S., & Mady AA, M. (2019). Predicting the limits of the oasis effect as a cooling phenomenon in hot deserts. Desert, 24(2), 255-266.
Berkouk, D., Bouzir, T. A. K., Maffei, L., & Masullo, M. (2020). Examining the Associations between Oases Soundscape Components and Walking Speed: Correlation or Causation?. Sustainability, 12(11), 4619.
Potchter, O., Goldman, D., Kadish, D., & Iluz, D. (2008). The oasis effect in an extremely hot and arid climate: The case of southern Israel. Journal of Arid Environments, 72(9), 1721-1733.
Ali-Toudert, F.; Mayer, H. Numerical study on the effects of aspect ratio and orientation of an urban street canyon on outdoor thermal comfort in hot and dry climate. Build. Environ. 2006, 41, 94-108.
Boukhelkhal, I., & Bourbia, P. F. (2016). Thermal comfort conditions in outdoor urban spaces: Hot dry climate-Ghardaia-Algeria. Procedia Engineering, 169, 207-215.
Matzarakis, A.; Mayer, H.; Iziomon, M.G. Applications of a universal thermal index: Physiological equivalent temperature. Int. J. Biometeorol. 1999, 43, 76-84.
Matzarakis, A.; Rutz, F.; Mayer, H. Modelling radiation fluxes in simple and complex environments-Application of the RayMan model. Int. J. Biometeorol. 2007, 51, 323-334.
Potchter, O., Cohen, P., Lin, T. P., & Matzarakis, A. (2018). Outdoor human thermal perception in various climates: A comprehensive review of approaches, methods and quantification. Science of the Total Environment, 631, 390-406.
Binarti, F., Koerniawan, M. D., Triyadi, S., Utami, S. S., & Matzarakis, A. (2020). A review of outdoor thermal comfort indices and neutral ranges for hot-humid regions. Urban Climate, 31, 100531.
