CHARACTERISTICS OF OUTDOOR THERMAL COMFORT INDEX (OCTI) AT MANDEH TOURISM SITE

Abstract

Tourism is one of the fast growing business sectors today. Outdoor Thermal Comfort Index
(OCTI) is useful information for tourists. The study was conducted at the Mandeh tourist area. OCTI is
calculated based on climate data for the 1979-2015 period. RayMan software is used to calculate OCTI
expressed in Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET). Calculation results show that the characteristics of
the annual OCTI in Mandeh are dominated by the Slightly Warm category (98%) and Comfortable (2%).
Characteristics of daily OCTI: morning (00 utc) and evening (18 utc) are dominated by the Comfortable
(90%) and Warm (10%) categories. During the day (06 utc) the Slightly warm category (60%) and
Comfortable (90%). Towards night (12 utc), a more diverse OCTI category emerged: Comfortable (7%),
Slightly Warm (31%), Warm (41%), Hot (20%), and Very Hot (1%). The unique characteristics of OCTI at
this time are thought to be because the location of the data sample taken is in a bay, where the PET value is
not only influenced by surface air temperature at the location but also the presence of ocean-land interactions
which causes the PET value to be unique at that time. During 1979-2015, there was a shift in PET, where the
trend in the Slightly Warm category continued to increase and the Comfortable category declined. For
tourists, the characteristics of OCTI can be used as a guide when the right time for a vacation and for tourism
businesses and local governments as a guide for tourism development in Mandeh.