2024 Volume 80 Issue 22 Article ID: 23-22025
The development of heat indices based on quantitative assessments of heat stroke risk has become an important source of information for addressing the contemporary issues of increased risk of heat stroke due to rising global temperatures and the heat island effect. Heat indices for urban areas provided by the Ministry of the Environment are generally available on the Web, but this information is limited for individual citizens to understand the risk of heat stroke in their immediate living and working environments. If the difference and distribution of the risk between sunny and shaded areas, as well as changes with time in the same hot environment, it would be easier to plan individual activities and tasks. In this study, the heat index is estimated pixel by pixel based on computer graphics rendered with realistic shadows by global illumination, using 3D data and weather data, which are public information infrastructure, to calculate sunlight conditions for specific sites and local environments. We developed a system that visualizes the heat index distribution in real time for sequential changes in the heat environment and distributes it on the Web by implementing the system with a game engine.
