Lecture: 03
ELEMENTS OF CLIMATE
CLIMATIC INFORMATION
The designer is interested specifically in those aspects of climate which affect
human comfort and the use of buildings.
They include-
averages,
changes and extremes of temperature,
the temperature differences between day and night (diurnal range),
humidity,
sky conditions,
incoming and outgoing radiation,
rainfall and its distribution,
air movements and
special features, such as trade-winds, thunder-storms, dust-storms and
hurricanes.
• Climatic records as gathered at airports and meteorological stations.
• Publications frequently omit some of the aspects that interest the designer.
• It is often necessary to supplement such information with unpublished data
obtained directly from meteorological stations.
• It is the designer's task:
to analyze climatic information and
present it in a form that allows him to identify features that are beneficial
or harmful to the future occupants of his building.
TEMPERATURE: MEASUREMENT
The temperature of the air is measured in
degrees Celsius (°C), most often with a mercury
thermometer.
The dry-bulb or 'true air temperature' is a value
taken in the shade, the thermometer being
mounted inside a louvred wooden box, known
as the 'Stevenson screen’, at a height of 1.20 to
1.80 m above the ground.
Readings can be taken at specified times of the
day, or if a maximum–minimum thermometer is
used, one reading daily can give the
momentary temperature as well as the
maximum and minimum temperatures reached
in the past 24 hours.
Alternatively a thermograph can be used, which
is based on a bimetallic thermometer and gives
a continuous graphic recording of temperature
variations.
TEMPERATURE: DATA
All these readings would produce an unmanageable mass of data, thus some
simplification is necessary.
• Monthly mean temperatures
It can be given for each of the 12 months. The average is taken between each
day's maximum and minimum and then the average of the 30 days‘ average is
found (and possibly as many years‘ average for the same month).
• Monthly mean maxima and minima
This can be supplemented to give an indication of diurnal variations. Monthly
mean maximum is the average of 30 days' maximum temperatures. These will
establish the monthly mean range of temperatures.
• Monthly extreme maxima and minima
It may be useful to indicate the highest and lowest temperatures ever recorded
for each month, to establish the monthly extreme range of temperatures.
These five values for each of the 12 months would give a reasonably accurate
picture of temperature conditions, on which the design work can be based.
HUMIDITY: MEASUREMENT
Absolute humidity (AH):
The amount of moisture actually present in unit mass or unit volume of air, in
terms of gram per kilo-gram (g/kg) or gramme per cubic metre (g/m3).
Saturation-point humidity (SH):
The amount of moisture the air can hold. It depends on its temperature (see
appendix 1.1).
Relative humidity (RH):
is the ratio of the actual amount of moisture present, to the amount of
moisture the air could hold at the given temperature – expressed as a
percentage.
Humidity is usually measured with the wet-and-dry-
bulb hygrometer. This consists of two ordinary
mercury thermometers mounted side by side. The
first one measures the air (dry-bulb) temperature
(DBT). The bulb of the second one is covered with a
gauze or wick and is kept wet. Moisture evaporating
gives a cooling effect, thus the reading of the wet-
bulb temperature (WBT) will be less than the DBT. As
in dry air the evaporation is faster, the cooling is
more pronounced and the difference between the
two readings (the 'wet-bulb depression') is greater.
In case of 100% RH the two readings will be
identical, as there is no evaporation. The rate of
evaporation, thus the wet-bulb depression, is a
function of the relative humidity. Having made the
two readings, the corresponding RH can be found
from the psychrometric chart, from a table or a
special slide-rule.
VAPOUR: PRESSURE
• Another indication or expression of atmospheric humidity is the vapour
pressure, i.e. the partial pressure of water vapour present in the air.
• The 'atmospheric pressure' (P) is the sum of the 'partial pressure of dry air'
(Pa) and the 'partial vapour pressure'(Pv):
P = Pa + Pv
• The air is saturated when the vapour pressure (Pv) is equal to the pressure of
saturated vapour of the same temperature (Pvs).
• Relative humidity can also be expressed as the ratio of actual vapour pressure
to the 'saturation point vapour pressure':
• Vapour pressure is measured in the standard SI pressure unit, the Newton
per metre square (N/m2).
1 millibar = 100 N/m2.
The vapour pressure concept is rarely used in practical work
• The relationship of all these quantities, i.e. of dry-bulb and wet-bulb
temperature, absolute and relative humidity and of vapour pressure is shown by
the psychrometric chart.
HUMIDITY: DATA
• To give an indication of prevailing humidity
conditions, it is sufficient to establish the
monthly mean maximum (the average of 30
days' maximum) and the monthly mean
minimum relative humidity values for each
of the 12 months.
• This is only possible, where continuous
hygrograph recordings are available. Where
these are not available, readings are made
just before sunrise, e.g. at 6.00 hours (which
is likely to be the maximum value), and at
15.00 hours (which is near the minimum
value).
• As the early morning values are fairly high
in any climate, the afternoon values are
much more characteristic of a given location.
They are often used alone, as a brief
indication of humidity conditions.
hygrograph
PRECIPITATION
• Precipitation is the collective term used for rain, snow, hail, dew and frost,
that is, for all forms of water deposited ('precipitated') from the atmosphere.
• It is measured by rain-gauges, i.e. calibrated receptacles, and expressed in
millimeter per a time unit (mm/month, mm/day).
• Values indicating the total precipitation for each month of the year (and as
many years' average) would show the pattern of dry and wet seasons.
• Ever recorded maxima and minima would give an indication of the reliability
of rains or deviations from the average.
• The maximum rainfall for any 24-hour period is a useful guide for the
predication of flooding, and for the design of surface drainage (roofs, paved
areas, gutters and downpipes) the maximum hourly rainfall intensity (mm/h)
should be known.
DRIVING RAIN
• The building designer may want to know whether intense rains are associated
with strong winds, in other words what is the likelihood of driving rain.
• The driving rain index characterises a given location and expresses the degree
of exposure.
• It is the product of annual rainfall (in m) and the annual average wind velocity
(in metres per second: m/s) – thus its dimension is m2/s.
• Up to 3 m2/s the location can be considered as 'sheltered'.
•The exposure is 'moderate' if the index is between 3 and 7 m2/s and 'severe' if
over 7 m2/s.
• Obviously this index only broadly classifies the given location, the actual rain
penetration will depend on the instantaneous rain intensity and the
simultaneous wind velocity.
SKY CONDITIONS
• Sky conditions are usually described in terms of presence or absence of clouds.
•On average, two observations are made per day, when the proportion of sky
covered by cloud is expressed as a percentage (some records give cloud cover in
'tenths' or even in 'eighths' or 'octets', e.g. 50%, five tenths or four-eighths would
all indicate that half of the sky hemisphere is covered by cloud).
•Few records exist of night-time sky conditions.
• It would be useful for the designer to know the time of day and frequency of
observations.
•A single average figure giving the sky conditions for a typical day of a given
month may conceal significant differences,
e.g. between morning and afternoon conditions, which may affect the design
of roofs, overhangs and shading devices.