Differences in the thermal bioclimatic conditions on the urban and rural areas in a southern Hungarian city (Szeged)

The aim of this study is to compare the bioclimatic situation of a city and the surrounding rural area on the example of a Southern Hungarian city (Szeged). To examine the frequency of the one hour averages of the PET index, it is shown that due to the strong direct radiation a strong or extreme heat stress values has 1.1 % higher occurrence in the rural areas compared to the urban ones. But considering the PET averages through the whole examined time period, it is 14 % higher in the urban areas. This effect is more pronounced in summer, when daytime with extreme heat stress is followed by night with 7-8 °C higher PET values in the city. During these times, the human body cannot regenerate in the nights before the repeated extreme heat stress occurs again during daytime. This makes the urban bioclimatic conditions (in summer, espe-cially during heat wave) more demanding, compared to the rural ones. 1