THE IMPORTANCE OF THERMAL COMFORT IN DIFFERENT ELEVATION FOR CITY PLANNING

This study investigates the thermal and bioclimatic conditions in Erzurum plain and the nearby Palandoken Mountains. The data was obtained from Erzurum Meteorological Station (1758 m) and Palandoken Mountains Meteorological Station (2973 m) for 2009 and 2010 in order to compute physiologically equivalent temperatures (PET). The results indicated that the average annual PET value for Erzurum was -0.3 degrees C while the corresponding value was -6.4 degrees C for the Palandoken Mountains. The difference between the two locations was 6.3 degrees C for 2009 and 5.9 degrees C for 2010. During the summer months of 2009, the PET difference was 7.4 degrees C while the corresponding difference was 6.4 degrees C for 2010. During the winter months of 2009, the PET difference was 3.1 degrees C while the corresponding difference was 3.7 degrees C for 2010. It was determined that the 1179 m elevation difference between the two stations resulted in PET declines of 0.5 degrees C for each 100 m. It was also observed that during days when the temperature is extremely low, due to the movement of cold spots to lower elevations, the PET values in Erzurum were observed to be lower than the ones in Palandoken mountains that are located only 13.5 km north-east of the city.