Dataset on daytime outdoor thermal comfort for Belo Horizonte, Brazil

This dataset describe microclimatic parameters of two urban open public spaces in the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil; physiological equivalent temperature (PET) index values and the related subjective responses of interviewees regarding thermal sensation perception and preference and thermal comfort evaluation. Individuals and behavioral characteristics of respondents were also presented. Data were collected at daytime, in summer and winter, 2013. Statistical treatment of this data was firstly presented in a PhD Thesis (“Percepção sonora e térmica e avaliação de conforto em espaços urbanos abertos do município de Belo Horizonte – MG, Brasil” (Hirashima, 2014) [1]), providing relevant information on thermal conditions in these locations and on thermal comfort assessment. Up to now, this data was also explored in the article “Daytime Thermal Comfort in Urban Spaces: A Field Study in Brazil” (Hirashima et al., in press) [2]. These references are recommended for further interpretation and discussion.


Subject area
Architecture and Urban Planning More specific subject area

Outdoor Thermal Comfort
Type of data Figure, table How data was acquired Data was acquired through field surveys. Objective environmental parameters were collected through measurements using instruments (thermo hygrometer make HOBO, model U12; thermo anemometer make ALNOR, model CF8586; globe thermometers, assembled by the Federal University of Minas Gerais using a thermo hygrometer make HOBO, model U12 (external channel), a temperature sensor make National Semiconductor, model LM35DT/NOPB and a table tennis ball painted in grey [3]; and a sensors shelter assembled with PVC pieces [3] Data accessibility Data are with this article.

Value of the data
This data can help researchers and practice professionals to evaluate the outdoors thermal conditions and can be used in the development of further experiments and/or future architectural intervention in these particular areas.
Statistical treatment of this data may allow the comparison of thermal comfort conditions people experience in different or in similar climatic and/or cultural contexts.
Statistical treatment of this data may allow the identification of potential thermal adaptation processes of population in different or in similar climatic and/or cultural contexts.

Data
This article contains a dataset on microclimatic variable, on values of the PET index, on subjective responses concerning perception of thermal sensation, thermal comfort evaluation and preferences of thermal sensation, and on individual and behavioral' characteristics of interviewees.

Study areas and measurement points
Data were collected in Liberdade square (see Fig. 1 in Ref. [2]) and Sete de Setembro square (see Fig. 2 in Ref. [2]). Further information on the climate of Belo Horizonte and on the urban characteristics of the squares, such as building height, vegetation indexes, permeable areas quantification and so on, is presented in [1]. In each square, two points were selected (one in the sun and another in the shade) for the measurements and for the administration of the questionnaires.

Physical measurements and the calculation of Tmrt and of the PET index
The summer data collection was carried out in March (on 11th March 2013 at Liberdade square, and on 13th March 2013 at Sete de Setembro square), and the winter data collection occurred in July (on 08th July 2013 at Liberdade square, and on 09th July 2013 at Sete de Setembro square). Microclimatic data recorded was air temperature (Ta, in°C), globe temperature (Tg, in°C), mean radiant temperature (Tmrt, in°C), relative humidity (RH, in %), wind speed (WS, in m/s), wind direction (WD, in°). The instruments were assembled on tripods, 1.1 m high, 30 min before the start of the survey. All instruments were previously calibrated and tested [1] [9] was used in the calculation of the PET index (in°C). These data is presented in data file: Microclimatic Data. Further information on the climatic data measured by The Fifth Meteorology District of National Meteorology Institute, Brazil (5°DISME/INMET) for Belo Horizonte in these specific days, such as cloudiness values, air temperature, relative humidity and so on, is presented in [1].

Questionnaire survey
Individual and behavioral variables that directly or indirectly influence the thermal perception and/or preference were collected during field surveys (Table 1).
In addition to these individual and behavioral variables and the microclimatic variables measured, subjective responses concerning perception of thermal sensation, thermal comfort evaluation and preferences of thermal sensation were also collected ( Table 2).
The administration of questionnaires occurred simultaneously with the microclimatic data measurements during field investigations. The sample frame considered the adult population (20-59 years-old) residing in the city for more than one year and that was in outdoors environments for more than 30 min. A total of 1693 questionnaires were administrated during the field surveys, 835 during the summer (359 in Liberdade Square and 476 in Sete de Setembro Square) and 858 questionnaires during the winter survey (389 in Liberdade Square and 469 in Sete de Setembro Square).
These data is presented in data file: Subjective_Individual_Behavioral Data.

Codes for data interpretation (Data file: Subjective_Individual_Behavioral Data)
We used the following codes (Table 3) to fill in the spreadsheet with the responses to the questionnaire. To all cells of this spreadsheet without answer, we used the number 99.