Specific climate parameters and seasonal changes of biocomfort zones Gaziantep province

In the designation and planning of physical environment in which humans lead their lives, it is crucial to construe the climate in a region as a first step, conduct a thorough assessment and create a favorable environment to help humans feel comfortable. Humans' lives are substantially affected by climate. To help humans feel comfortable, surrounding ambiance is required to offer temperature, humidity and wind values within a certain range. This range is termed as comfort zone. If the conditions are unfavorable to provide comfort in certain areas, humans feel disturbed and drive an urge to leave that place. Establishing settlements in places fit for biocomfort has positive effects on the health, comfort and psychology of humans while also rendering a major effect on energy consumption alike. Hence, in urban planning works, it is suggested to designate biocomfort zones and decidedly be considered in plannings. The aim of this study is to designate suitable and unsuitable biocomfort zones in Gaziantep Province. Further to that; within the scope of this study an investigation was conducted on humidity, wind speed, precipitation and temperature values as well as seasonal changes in biocomfort. At the end of this research, average annual climatic data were employed in computations. It was detected that around 88,83% of Gaziantep province was suitable for biocomfort. Nonetheless, it was revealed that suitable zones for biocomfort significantly changed depending on seasons. At the end of this study it was highlighted that during spring and fall season a vast majority of the city was comfortable whereas in winter season the entire city was measured to be uncomfortable. This finding postulates that conducting a computation based on average annual data only is not necessarily accurate thus it is reasonable to suggest that studies on biocomfort should be conducted seasonally and even monthly. Key Words: Biocomfort, Gaziantep, GIS, seasonal change