THE BIOCLIMATE OF ULYANOVSK AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 21st CENTURY

Abstract

The paper studies the peculiarities of bioclimate of the city of Ulyanovsk in 2000–2020 using the most popular biometeorological indices. In the past, similar studies for Ulyanovsk were conducted only until 2004 and only based on average monthly data. Our research aims to show the trend in the change of the environmental comfort in the early 21st century, in the context of continuing global warming, within a small area, over different time intervals – from a decade to a year. Using daily weather observation data of the AMSG Ulyanovsk-I station (Baratayevka) we performed calculations of the effective temperature, equivalent-effective temperature, Bodman weather severity index, pathogenicity index, and tourist climate index. An analysis of the values obtained identified the most comfortable conditions during the year – those favorable for the health of the population, for rest and recreation activities. To receive the results, we additionally divided months into ten-day periods, which allowed us to see that, in general, the comfort of weather conditions in Ulyanovsk has been increasing since the beginning of the century, with a positive trend formed mainly due to the winter period. According to the Bodman severity index calculations, softening of weather conditions during the winter period occurs at a rate of 0.2–0.5 points/10 years. The greatest softening of winters takes place in the second and third decades of January. Calculation of the region’s tourist attractiveness showed that from the third decade of April to the third decade of September inclusive, there are comfortable weather conditions for tourist activities, with the best conditions falling on the period from the third decade of June to the second decade of August inclusive.