Oded PotchterBeit Berl College · Department of Data Analysis
Oded Potchter
Professor
About
70
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Introduction
Additional affiliations
September 2015 - April 2016
January 1996 - present
Beit Berl College
January 1992 - October 2012
Publications
Publications (70)
a b s t r a c t The random development of small-scale industrial and workshop activities in residential areas of Arab municipalities in Israel is causing environmental nuisances such as noise, air, water and soil pollution, and heat emissions. These nuisances are both harmful to the environment and local populations. The aim of this research is to...
In this study, we demonstrate how urban-dwelling bats can be used to reconstruct Urban Heat Islands (UHI). We term this approach biologically-assisted sampling (BAS). We used Egyptian fruit bats to map the spatial air temperature (Tair) profile. To demonstrate the feasibility of using biologically-assisted sampled data set, we run mixed effects and...
Since the early 2000's, much attention has been paid to human thermal assessment in urban outdoor environments in different climatic zones. Some previous studies have argued that an absence of an agreed protocol for outdoor human bio-metrological research causes complexity in comparing the studies' results for several reasons: An abundance of human...
The katabatic winds have been studied over the slopes surrounding the Dead Sea (DS, in brevity), located at altitude of 433 m below sea level focusing on the summer season when the katabatic winds are most frequent, persistent and pronounced due to the summer stable weather conditions. The study observes the katabatic wind pulses, which are intermi...
Portable and tracking devices open up new opportunities for systematic and accurate measurements of human exposure to environmental nuisances in urban fields. We argue that they represent a new people oriented paradigm. Two branches are applied in a way that may complement each other. First a micro-scale analysis based on measurements from portable...
Facing the impacts of climate change and urbanization, adaptation and resilience to climate extremes have become important issues of global concern. [...]
This study aims to examine the effect of urban spatial patterns on heat exposure in the city of Tel Aviv using multiple methodologies, Local Climate Zones (LCZ), meteorological measurements, and remote sensing. A Local Climate Zone map of Tel Aviv was created using Geographic Information System (GIS), and satellite images were used to identify the...
Mean radiant temperature (Tmrt) is important for human thermal comfort indexes, but is difficult to determine. Tmrt was calculated from measured temperatures of buildings and vegetation surfaces in urban scenarios along with meteorological data (temperature, relative humidity and global radiation). The method can be used for experimental work in th...
Long-term series of reliable sea level (SL) data are essential for understanding the trends and causes of SL changes, for furthering knowledge about the effects of current climate change and for predicting future SL evolution. This study aims to extend the SL time series of measurements along the Israeli Mediterranean coastline by revisiting histor...
The current study examined the case of religious students who opted to study in a secular teacher-training college despite the fact that there are religious colleges that would have suited their needs. This phenomenon is unusual because the education system in Israel is segregated and each educational sector has its own teacher-training colleges. F...
Sea level variability affected by sea water mass is strongly associated with global, regional and local climate. In this context, the eastern Mediterranean Sea has been intensively investigated in recent decades because of its sensitivity to climatic and environmental variables, due to the influence of the Eastern Mediterranean Transient (EMT). The...
In the 21st century, examination of thermal indices by subjective perception has become methodical. Over 120 studies have assessed human thermal perception by investigating in-situ thermal conditions as compared to subjective thermal perception. The majority were conducted in temperate and tropical climates whereas the arid and semi-arid zones have...
Over the past century, many research studies have been conducted in an attempt to define thermal conditions for humans in the outdoor environment and to grade thermal sensation. Consequently, a large number of indices have been proposed. The examination of human thermal indices by thermal subjective perception has become recently a methodical issue...
The use of urban greenery to mitigate heat island intensity is significant as a means to improve human comfort in hot climates. Many studies have concentrated on the positive effect of green areas on urban climate showing that green areas in cities can create a cool island. However, few studies have suggested that certain types of vegetated areas c...
Background
Evidence has accumulated in recent years regarding the scope of local and global climate changes attributed to exacerbating anthropogenic factors such as accelerating population growth, urbanization, industrialization, traffic and energy use. Remote space monitoring, unlike ground-based measurements, has the advantage of providing global...
During periods of global warming (GW), expected increases in urban temperatures
can have adverse impacts on city climate and thermal discomfort due to
combined urban and global warming effects. The different climates in four cities
in Israel are studied for the purpose of differentiating global vs. urban warming.
Trends in urban and nearby rural ar...
Conventional environmental monitoring is not surrogate of personal exposure. In contrast, biomonitoring provides information on the presence of substances in the human body, making it highly relevant to the assessment of exposure to toxic substances. Induced sputum (IS) is a noninvasive technique for detecting inflammation and reflecting particulat...
The Mediterranean summer sea breeze front (SBF) climatic features of penetration into the complex topography of the Jordan Rift Valley (JRV) were investigated. It was shown that the SBF penetration into the JRV occurs in a well-defined chronological order from north to south. One exception to this general rule is the breeze penetration of Sdom, whi...
Mean radiant temperature (TMRT) is an important component of human thermal comfort indexes, but is
difficult to measure and model. A method was developed to calculate instantaneous values of TMRT based
on the geometry and dimensions of the urban canyon, vegetation leaf area index, meteorological data
(temperature, relative humidity and solar radiat...
This paper examines how the first urban plan of Tel-Aviv (the Geddes Plan, 1925) affected outdoor human thermal comfort in two periods: at the time of its implementation (1920-1930s) and in the present day (2010s). Additionally, this paper questions which of the two - shade or wind velocity – has greater influence on outdoor thermal sensation in th...
Short-term personal exposure of passengers in different types of motor vehicles to carbon monoxide was investigated in an intensively used main road in Israel’s Tel Aviv metropolitan area. According to monitoring stations of the Ministry for Environmental Protection (MEP), concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) along the road, at a height of 3 m ab...
a b s t r a c t Most studies conducted on the desert oasis effect have focused on the summer season, while the winter has received less attention. This study aimed to determine existence of the oasis climatic effect in winter season and investigate influence of different vegetation types on its intensity and dynamics. Measure-ments were conducted d...
Urban trees mitigate hot climate by shading, but also through transpirational cooling. Transpiration from urban trees can be a significant part of the urban energy budget, but is difficult to quantify. A direct method for measuring tree transpiration is through the use of sap flow sensors. Several methods have been developed for this, where the mos...
Urban trees mitigate hot climate by shading, but also through
transpirational cooling. Transpiration from urban trees can be a
significant part of the urban energy budget, but is difficult to
quantify. A direct method for measuring tree transpiration is through
the use of sap flow sensors. Several methods have been developed for
this, where the mos...
This study suggests a shift in focus from studying environmental discomfort in urban strategic stations, from which average results for the city or specific results for selected sites are deduced, and from measuring environmental conditions in fixed monitoring stations to a study in which we monitor, with mobile portable sensors, the exposure of pe...
human thermal comfort in hot arid cities as influenced by trees.
This study analyzes the impact of shade trees on microclimate in urban streets of Beer-Sheva city, Israel, located in a hot-arid region. The study is part of a collaborative project between Israel and Germany on the contribution of vegetation to urban heat island mitigation. Two NW-SE oriented parallel streets were chosen: a pedestrian mall with ve...
The paper compares the impact of trees on human thermal comfort in contrasting temperate and hot-arid urban environments. Studies were conducted on urban bare and vegetated streets in a residential area in Freiburg, Germany (temperate climate) and in the city area of Beer Sheva, Israel (hot-dry climate), during the summer of 2009. The simulation to...
Microclimate formation and its significance in urban planning was examined through two components that predominate in affecting the city's climate: built-up morphology and urban shade trees.
The methodological approach focus is on a generalization procedure for quantifying the thermal effect of any studied situation through parameterization of the...
a b s t r a c t One of the definitions of the 'oasis effect' is the reduction of temperature in an isolated moisture source surrounded by an arid area. This study examined the existence of the 'oasis effect' and its diurnal dynamics in a rural settlement in the Arava Valley, southern Israel, characterized by an extremely hot and dry climate. The st...
a b s t r a c t One of the definitions of the 'oasis effect' is the reduction of temperature in an isolated moisture source surrounded by an arid area. This study examined the existence of the 'oasis effect' and its diurnal dynamics in a rural settlement in the Arava Valley, southern Israel, characterized by an extremely hot and dry climate. The st...
This study examines the climatic behavior of different designs of urban parks during hot and humid summer conditions, and their influence on human comfort in Tel Aviv, Israel. The research was conducted in three different types of urban parks: a park with grass and a few low trees, a park with medium sized trees and a park with high and wide-canopi...
This study presents the results of a preliminary research that was conducted in the city of Eilat, located in an extreme hot
and arid zone on the northern coast of the Red Sea. The purpose was to analyse the characteristics of the local urban heat
island (UHI). Diurnal pre-dawn and early-afternoon measurements were taken in winter and summer weathe...
Data on admissions of schizophrenia- and schizoaffective disorder patients to Tel-Aviv's seven public psychiatric hospitals during 11 consecutive years were obtained along with relevant meteorological information. Mean monthly admission rates were significantly higher during the summer (for schizophrenia patients) and fall (for schizoaffective pati...
We intended to identify a relationship, if exists, between various climatic factors and the admission rates of bipolar affective disorder depressed patients (BPD) or major depressive disorder patients (unipolar) (UPD) to psychiatric hospitals, as well as potential seasonal variability in hospitalization rates of this population.
Data on admissions...
Thermal perception of 36 students has been calculated and observed in a case study on the 10th and 11th of July 2000 at Kibbutz Yotvata under extremely hot and arid climatic conditions. Calculations of thermal sensations were done by energy balance models of Fanger [Thermal Comfort: Analysis and Applications in Environmental Engineering, McGraw-Hil...
The paper discusses methodological issues and carrying out problems in outdoor comfort research. It also deals with the relative effects of air temperature, solar radiation and wind speed, as well as with the relationship between thermal sensation and overall comfort sensation, as was found in the outdoor comfort research in Japan. The paper also s...
A significant urban heat island (UHI) was identified in Tel-Aviv on a stable winter day. The UHI detection was performed using air temperatures at both the roof and the street levels (using fixed-station and car-traverse measurements) and at the surface level (using an airborne thermal video radiometer [TVR]). Whereas the complex microscale charact...
The characteristics of hot, arid climates include: slight precipitation, high temperature in the summer, low temperature in the winter, low humidity, strong winds and dust storms. These climatic conditions of the hot, arid zones create an uncomfortable environment for man. The state of Israel has performed a major settlement operation in the Jordan...
In recent years, applied climatology has become increasingly important in planning and building. Planners, architects and climatologists have attempted to integrate various climatological parameters at all planning levels with special regard to building design. This paper presents the concept of, and a methological approach to, applied climatology...
The past presents numerous examples of adaptation in urban planning and building design to climatic conditions in different geo-graphical regions. Each historical period devel-oped its own concepts of urbanization and building design, some were unique and others were adapted from period to period. This research will examine to what extent climatic...
The characteristics of hot, arid climates include: slight precipitation, high temperature in the summer, low temperature in the winter, low humidity, strong winds and dust storms. These climatic conditions of the hot, arid zones create an uncomfortable environment for man. The state of Israel has performed a major settlement operation in the Jordan...
This study examines the climatic behavior of different designs of urban parks during the summer, and their influence on heat stress. The research was conducted in three different types of urban parks: a park with grass and only a few low trees, a park with medium size trees and a park with high and wide canopy trees. The results showed that an urba...
Human thermal sensation under extremely hot and dry non-steady state conditions were analyzed at Kibbutz Yotvata, Israel in July 2000 under extremely hot and dry conditions. Students from Eilat were examined during alternating exposure to hot outside and comfortable indoor conditions to compare the calculated and observed thermal stress levels. The...