Geosciences Dept. Seminar: Urbane exposure to environmental factors

Abstract:

A set of studies focusing on human exposure to a selected set of environmental factors will be presented. The studied environmental effects are social load, thermal load, noise and CO. Their effects are studied in several types of urban environments focusing on the stress effect of urban environments and the restorative effect of urban parks and greenery. Human coping with the environments is measured by  Heart Rate Variability and subjective sense of discomfort. In addition, we ask whether different ethnicities cope with environmental challenges in the same way or they are affected by cultural traits.  

This study classifies urban environments into types characterized by different exposure to environmental risk factors measured by general sense of discomfort and Heart Rate Variability (HRV). In this study a set of environmental factors (micro-climatic, CO, noise, social loads and individual Hart rate) were measured simultaneously in random locations. We hypothesize that such a study can provide a better understanding of the distribution of human exposure to environmental loads throughout the urban space than results calculated based on measurements from close fixed stations. We measured micro-climatic and thermal load, CO and noise and individual Heart Rate by portable sensors attached to the subjects body in a way that secure accurate rates of exposure to the environmental factors.  In addition, Subjective Social Load and Sense of Discomfort (SD) were tested by questionnaire survey.

Seminar Organizer: Prof. Eyal Haifetz