1,1,- 1University of Augsburg, Institute of Geography, Physical Geography and Climate Research, Augsburg, Germany (christoph.beck@uni-a.de)
- 2Ulm University, Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, Department of Business Chemistry, Ulm, Germany
- 3Stadt Zwickau, Zwickau, Germany
- 4Öko-Zentrum NRW, Hamm, Germany
High air temperatures can pose a significant health risk both outdoors and indoors, especially for vulnerable population groups such as the elderly.
In a sub-project of the interdisciplinary research project HEATS (Heat Risk Management in the City; BMUV funding 67DAS255), measurement data and numerical simulations are used to investigate potential heat stress in the outdoor and indoor spaces of nursing homes in three cities in Germany and to estimate the effectiveness of adaptation measures.
As a first investigation step and a necessary prerequisite for subsequent modelling studies, air temperature and partly relative humidity measurements were taken in three nursing homes and in their immediate surroundings in the cities of Augsburg, Hamm and Zwickau in the summer of 2024.
Five to eight loggers were set up outdoors, while between 13 and 26 loggers were installed in representative indoor areas. The measurements, which were recorded at a rate of 15 minutes, commenced between June and July 2024 and continued until September 2024.
The facilities investigated in the three cities feature partly different large-scale and mesoscale climatic conditions and different local-scale neighbourhood characteristics (e.g. proportion of green space) and building characteristics (e.g. year of construction). Considering these differences and additional synoptic-climatological differentiations (e.g. heat waves), the varying couplings between outside and inside temperatures are investigated. Therefore, it is, for example, intended to investigate in more detail the pronounced nighttime overheating of indoor spaces observed at all three study sites.
In subsequent investigation steps, numerical simulation models for the outdoor space (ENVI-met) and the indoor space (IDA ICE) will be validated using the available measurement data. These models will then be used to estimate the effectiveness of various outdoor and indoor adaptation measures (e.g. additional green space, shading devices) to reduce heat exposure.
How to cite: Beck, C., Hiete, M., Höhne, E., Hörnemann, M., Oster, J., Renelt, M., Rütter, J., Rupp, S., Simon, J., and Vogt, A.: Summer Heat Exposure of Vulnerable Populations - Assessment of Outdoor and Indoor Temperatures in Nursing Homes in three German Cities during the Summer of 2024, 12th International Conference on Urban Climate, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 7–11 Jul 2025, ICUC12-698, https://doi.org/10.5194/icuc12-698, 2025.
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