• Geographical Research
  • Vol. 39, Issue 1, 41 (2020)
Lizi DENG1、1、2、2 and Jigang BAO2、2、3、3
Author Affiliations
  • 1School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
  • 1中山大学地理科学与规划学院,广州 510275
  • 2Center of Tourism Planning and Research, Sun Yat-sen University,Guangzhou 510275, China
  • 2中山大学旅游发展与规划研究中心,广州 510275
  • 3School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
  • 3中山大学旅游学院,广州 510275
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    DOI: 10.11821/dlyj020180792 Cite this Article
    Lizi DENG, Jigang BAO. Spatial distribution of summer comfortable climate and winter comfortable climate in China and their differences[J]. Geographical Research, 2020, 39(1): 41 Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    Comfortable climate consists of summer comfortable climate and winter comfortable climate. Insofar there has been little, if any, academic attention paid to the dichotomous climates, especially in terms of the characteristics as well as differences embedded in their spatial distribution across China. Building upon the statistics collected by 2132 national meteorological stations in China during the period of 1981-2010, this study has bridged this insufficiency in the extant literature. Specifically, climate comprehensive comfort index is calculated, using the Temperature-Humidity Index (THI), Wind-Chill Index (WCI) and Index of Clothing (ICL). Also, employing the Cokriging spatial interpolation method, this study sheds light on the characteristics and differences of the spatial distribution of summer comfortable climate and winter comfortable climate in China. As the research result manifests, (1) Summer comfortable climate in China is located in the frontier regions of Northwest and Northeast China lying north of 40°N, the central part of Northwest China and Southwest China. In contrast, the winter comfortable climate is mainly distributed at low latitudes, particularly lying south of the Tropic of Cancer. Specifically, it includes Hainan province and the southern part of Yunnan province, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Guangdong province, and Fujian province. (2) Since the weather and climate in most parts of China are perceived not so comfortable, especially over the Bohai Bay, the Yangtze River Delta as well as other economically developed and densely populated regions, and the development of these dichotomous comfortable climates appears to be potentially rewarding. (3) In addition, the dichotomous comfortable climates show obvious geographical separation characteristics, as there are few places that enjoy both summer comfortable climate and winter comfortable climate. (4) Overall, the winter comfortable climate could be a scarce resource with monopoly characteristic in China, while, the resource of the summer comfortable climate seems not so rare, in view of its relatively wide distribution. This study provides a wealth of insights that potentially hugely enrich the pre-exiting theories concerning spatial distribution of comfortable climates in China. Meanwhile, a scientific basis for the development of favorable climatic resources is contributed, accordingly.
    Lizi DENG, Jigang BAO. Spatial distribution of summer comfortable climate and winter comfortable climate in China and their differences[J]. Geographical Research, 2020, 39(1): 41
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