• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.22-30
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• 2013

This study aims to measure the thermal comfort effects of urban street trees. As the usual dry bulb air temperature does not indicate properly how the average pedestrian feels the heat of a typical summer day under the strong sunshine, we adopted the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature(WBGT). WBGT involves black globe temperature to measure the direct radiation of sun beams on our bodies, for example our heads. We measured temperatures on very sunny and hot summer days, August 3, 4, and 7, 2012, on the urban streets of Seoul, Korea. Wet bulb, globe, and dry bulb temperatures were measured under direct sunlight from 1 O'clock to 5 O'clock pm. Globe and dry bulb temperatures were measured under street tree shades nearby during the same hours. Then the WBGTs were calculated with the formulae, one for sunny outdoor spaces, and the other for shaded outdoor spaces or indoor. The results are compared with the Korean Standards Association(KS A ISO 7243). The major findings were: 1) On very sunny and hot summer days in Seoul, street tree shades lower the WBGT about 1 to 4 degrees, 2) during the hours of 3 and 4 O'clock in the afternoon, the WBGT under the tree shades are about 3 to 4 degrees lower compared to those under sunshines(approx. 29 to 32 degrees respectively), 3) This difference makes a major thermal comfort for urban pedestrians because senior citizens or weak persons are recommended to move indoor, and even healthy people are recommended stop outdoor sports and take rests in the shades when WBGT is about 32. On the other hand, if the WBGT is around 29, or 3 degrees lower, slower walking, light works or sports are allowable, 4) On site questionnaire survey confirms the thermal comforts under the tree shades, and we even could not get survey subjects on the sunny parts of the sidewalks, 5) We strongly recommend change of guidelines for urban street trees from "one row of street trees on 6m~8m intervals" to "street trees to make continuous shades".