Types Of Summer And Winter Comfortable Climates In China And Their Temporal And Spatial Distribution

Geographical differences in latitude, topography and location of land and sea lead to a variety of summer comfortable climates in China. Using daily data from 756 national basic stations and 122 radiation stations in China during 1993-2012, the human perception of temperature is calculated based on the model of Universal Thermal Climate Index. Combined with cluster analysis method, Regional types of the summer and winter comfortable climate are analyzed as well as their spatial distribution, temporal variation and characteristics of comfort. The results show that:(1)Summer comfortable climates in China present a "double high" characteristic——Mainly locate in the high latitudes or altitudes areas, others scatter in mountains with altitude above 1200m and coastal areas like Shandong Peninsula, Liaodong Peninsula; Winter comfortable climates concentrate in low latitudes, most lie in the south of 25°N, and the boundary is closely to the isotherm of 8℃ of the temperature in January in China.(2)Summer comfortable climates in China which include Southwest Plateau type, Central-eastern Mountain type, Bohai Hilly type, Northeast Mountain-plain type and Northwest Mountain-plateau type, and winter comfortable climates consisting of Tropical Island type, Lingnan Coast type and Southwest Valley type, have significant geographical differences.(3)All kinds of comfortable climates have distinct geographical differences.Regarding Southwest Plateau, the solar radiation is quiet strong with a low latitude and high altitude; Central-eastern Mountain in summer is comfortable and slightly cold due to high terrain and big wind speed; Bohai Hilly influenced distinctly by the sea breeze prefers to a little hot with high humidity; Northwest Mountain-plateau has a pleasant temperature and sunny weather although a bit dry; Comparatively, conditions in Northeast Mountain-plain are the most favorable because of the cool climate with a small wind speed, weak radiation, and moderate humidity; tropical island in winter is warm and humid, the solar radiation of Lingnan Coast is moderate with a small wind speed, so it feels cool and humid Southwest Valley is sunny but a little dry.(4)From the change of each summer comfortable climate’s human perception of temperature and major climate indicators during summer, the comfortable period of Bohai Hilly stays short but the others’are relatively long; It’s a little uncomfortable in late summer of Bohai Hilly because of higher temperature and grater humidity; Southwest Plateau has no significant differences during the whole summer; In addition, Northeast Mountain-plain and Northwest Mountain-plateau’s human perception of temperature shows a single peak with symmetric change while the others present a roughly single peak with asymmetrical shape. While in the case of each winter comfortable climate, the human perception of temperature of Lingnan Coast presents a asymmetrical shape, and the other two have relatively small change; The comfortable period of is a little short, the others are relatively long; Affected by large terrain differences of valley, Southwest Valley’s wind speed changes largely; Lingnan Coast shows uncomfortable in early winter impacted by low temperature and humidity. Not only can this study further enrich the theoretical results of summer and winter comfortable climate research, also it provides a scientific basis for the development and planning of summer and winter tourist resources, acting as a guide to people’s tourism activities.