Assessment of the mean radiant temperature in urban areas: methods at comparison

Mean radiant temperature may play a pivotal role in the assessment of the outdoor environmental conditions in urban areas. However, its assessment in urban settings is not a simple task owing to the presence of complex and articulated environment and of solar radiation. The article aims to perform a comparison among the results yielded by different methods: the globe-thermometer method, and the six-directional technique. The scope of such a survey is an analysis of the actual appropriateness of the more practical, albeit less accurate, globe-thermometer method to outdoor environments. Furthermore, an analytical model, previously elaborated by the authors and here modified to make it applicable to outdoor environment, was also considered with a view to verifying its accuracy in predicting the effect of solar radiation. To fulfil all the tasks an experimental investigation was carried out, involving a globe-thermometer with a diameter of 150 mm, usually used in indoor environments.