SECTION 4c.
MAKING THE MONTHLY "NOODLE"
















The next step in conducting a bioclimatic analysis comes with the plotting of climatic data of 12 months for the place, (in this case, Tucson).

As we know the psychrometric chart can represent a multitude of climatic data. While we might have more than 4 parameters available (like DBT, WBT, RH, AH etc), it is necessary only to have any two. We will use DBT and RH since these climatic variables are the ones one is most likely to come across. Ideally, we would like to have hourly average values per month though one can also get by with using the average monthly minimum and maximum.

We will get the requisite values for Tucson from the climatic data from the previous page and lay them out in the table below. Note that all DBT values have been converted from °F to °C in order to comply with the International standards.


Summary of Temperature and R.H. data by hours for Tucson
 Months
Hours ->
0:0 
3:0 
6:0 
9:0
12:0
15:0
18:0
21:0
JAN DBT(°C)
% RH
7.2
66.3
5.5
64.2
4.4
69.8
3.3
76.1
12.7
41.8
17.7
34.0
17.7
31.0
12.2
51.0
FEB DBT(°C)
% RH
3.8
26.4
-2.2
40.1
-4.4
43.8
-0.5
35.9
8.8
17.8
12.2
13.2
12.2
17.6
7.2
18.2
MAR DBT(°C)
% RH
1.6
28.5
1.1
24.9
1.6
26.7
3.8
26.5
8.8
12.8
12.2
13.3
12.2
9.0
7.7
20.0
APR DBT(°C)
% RH
8.3
93.3
15.5
25.8
12.7
28.1
14.4
54.0
21.1
26.0
20
30.7
11.1
70.6
8.8
93.4
MAY DBT(°C)
% RH
22.2
16.1
16.6
28.1
14.4
31.7
22.2
21.9
27.7
11.4
30.5
9.8
31.6
9.7
27.2
12.6
JUN DBT(°C)
% RH
31.6
23.9
24.4
20.2
21.1
22.9
27.7
18.2
36.6
15.0
38.8
11.4
38.8
11.4
35.5
15.3
JUL DBT(°C)
% RH
27.7
63.0
25.5
72.1
25.5
72.1
26.1
68.8
29.4
55.3
33.8
37.7
35
34.3
30.0
52.3
AUG DBT(°C)
% RH
27.2
59.3
23.3
74.1
22.2
78.2
25.5
68.4
29.4
46.6
32.7
36.5
34.4
31.5
30.5
44.4
SEP DBT(°C)
% RH
25
32.2
22.7
41.6
21.1
46.3
23.3
45.6
30.5
31.6
33.8
13.0
33.8
9.4
26.6
16.3
OCT DBT(°C)
% RH
14.4
59.0
10.5
81.7
10.5
81.7
14.4
58.6
25.0
26.5
27.2
19.6
26.6
26.0
21.6
37.0
NOV DBT(°C)
% RH
12.2
72.8
12.7
56.5
15.5
56.5
10.5
64.3
20.5
34.9
25.5
25.0
22.7
32.0
16.1
52.0
DEC DBT(°C)
% RH
12.2
40.8
6.6
52.7
6.1
58.3
7.2
47.5
16.6
39.8
18.8
25.1
18.3
27.5
14.4
35.9












Visual Inspection:

  1. Since temperatures at night are lower that those during the day, we may safely conclude that in general, the leftmost point for any month represents the coolest time of night and the rightmost, the warmest.
  2. Months plotting on the left of the comfort zone indicate cooler temperatures. This means that these months will repond to heating strategies. Months plotting on the right of the comfort zone will respond to cooling strategies.
  3. The closer a month plots to the saturation line, the higher the relative humidity. Be careful while doing this comparison since 'closer' means in relation to the total vertical distance between the saturation line and the baseline.
  4. From the above, we can interpolate that the months plotting to the left of the comfort zone and closer to the saturation line mean cooler temperatures with high relative humidity. The opposite holds true for months that plot to the right of the comfort zone and closer to the baseline.


The above will give you an intuitive feel about the climate you are trying to analyse. In the next module, 'psychrometric analysis' we will assess the bioclimatic needs objectively, tabulate our observations and see how to interpret the plots - what do they mean in relation to the comfort zone?.





©1998-2008 Peyush Agarwal. All rights reserved. Contact peyusha AT hotmail DOT com for comments.
You may freely download, distribute, copy and use the Website in whole or in parts, as long as credit is cited alongwith.