Impacts of Landscape Characteristics on Outdoor Thermal Comfort in Traditional Villages Under Heat Exposure: A Study of Shique Village, Hainan

Although rural areas may experience severe heat exposure, evidence on local-scale outdoor thermal comfort in tropical traditional villages remains limited. This study examined Shique Village, a typical tropical traditional village in Hainan Province, China, through field measurements and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) oblique photogrammetry. A three-dimensional village model was used in ENVI-met to simulate air temperature, relative humidity, mean radiant temperature, wind speed, and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) for a representative hot-period simulation. In total, 10 landscape metrics were extracted, and ordinary least squares (OLS), zone-based multiple OLS (MOLS), and geographically weighted regression (GWR) were compared to characterize global, zone-specific, and local relationships with the UTCI. The main findings are as follows. (1) Shique Village exhibited simulated conditions characterized by high temperature, moderate humidity, high mean radiant temperature, and low wind speed, with very strong heat stress persisting for more than 8 h during the 12-h simulation period. (2) The GWR model revealed considerable spatial heterogeneity in the relationships between landscape characteristics and thermal comfort. (3) Sky view factor (SVF) (Pos. 97.80%, Median (Abs.) 0.500) and tree cover ratio (Neg. 99.49%, Median (Abs.) 0.302) showed the most spatially consistent relationships with thermal comfort across the village. By integrating field observations, high-resolution village geometry, and local spatial regression, this study provides a fine-scale basis for thermal assessment and adaptation in traditional settlements.