scholarly journals Heat Warnings in Switzerland: Reassessing the Choice of the Current Heat Stress Index

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (15) ◽  
pp. 2684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annkatrin Burgstall ◽  
Ana Casanueva ◽  
Sven Kotlarski ◽  
Cornelia Schwierz
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Heat Index ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Stress Indices ◽  
Wet Bulb Globe Temperature ◽  
Human Stress ◽  
Weather Stations ◽  
Globe Temperature ◽  
Heat Stress Index

High temperatures lead to heat-related human stress and an increased mortality risk. To quantify heat discomfort and the relevant dangers, heat stress indices combine different meteorological variables such as temperature, relative humidity, radiation and wind speed. In this paper, a set of widely-used heat stress indices is analyzed and compared to the heat index currently used to issue official heat warnings in Switzerland, considering 28 Swiss weather stations for the years 1981–2017. We investigate how well warnings based on the heat index match warning days and warning periods that are calculated from alternative heat stress indices. The latter might allow for more flexibility in terms of specific warning demands and impact-based warnings. It is shown that the percentage of alternative warnings that match the official warnings varies among indices. Considering the heat index as reference, the simplified wet bulb globe temperature performs well and has some further advantages such as no lower bound and allowing for the calculation of climatological values. Yet, other indices (e.g., with higher dependencies on humidity) can have some added value, too. Thus, regardless of the performance in terms of matches, the optimal index to use strongly depends on the purpose of the warning.

scholarly journals Trend Analysis and Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Wet Bulb Globe Temperature as a Heat Stress Index in Iran during the Summer Season over a 30-year Period

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gholamabbas Fallah Ghalhari ◽  
Somayeh Farhang Dehghan ◽  
Elham Akhlaghi Pirposhteh ◽  
Mehdi Asghari
Keyword(s):  
Global Warming ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Upward Trend ◽  
Temporal And Spatial Distribution ◽  
Wet Bulb Globe Temperature ◽  
Globe Temperature ◽  
June July ◽  
Heat Stress Index ◽  
High Range

Introduction: Global warming is one of the most important environmental problems that have raised researchers’ attention. The present study aimed to analyze heat stress trends using the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index in the country of Iran during the summer over a 30-year period. Materials and Methods: Daily summertime statistical data regarding mean temperature and mean relative humidity, taken from 40 synoptic meteorological stations across Iran during a 30-year period were obtained from the Iranian National Meteorological Department. The De Martonne climate classification system was used to categorize various climate regions of Iran. The WBGT index was calculated using the formula given by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The Mann-Kendall statistical test and the Sen's slope estimator were used to analyze the trends of the WBGT index. Results: The WBGT index had an upward trend during the three months of June, July, and August in 71.42%, 57.14%, and 66.66% of all stations and this trend was statistically significant in 53.32%, 50%, and 42.85% of those stations, respectively. Moreover, throughout the summer, 45% of the WBGT index measurements were in the medium range (18-23°C), 37.5% were in the high range (23-28°C), and 17.5% were in the very high range (> 28°C). Conclusion: The WBGT index followed an upward trend during the summer, especially in semi-arid regions of Iran. Considering the phenomenon of global warming, it is essential to monitor, plan ahead, and take necessary precaution measures for sensitive populations who are at high risk areas of the country.

scholarly journals The Assessment of the Ability of Various Heat Stress Indices to Predict Safe Work Behavior

1985 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 829-833
Author(s):  
Chi-ping Peter Chai ◽  
Jerry D. Ramsey
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Work Load ◽  
Work Behavior ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Safety Behavior ◽  
Thermal Indices ◽  
Stress Indices ◽  
Globe Temperature ◽  
Safe Work Behavior ◽  
Heat Stress Index

Six major heat stress indices are evaluated through this paper by the efficiencies at predicting workers' safety behavior. Actual temperature and safety sampling data were taken in two industrial plants for a five month period (July through November). Those data were converted to computer and analyzed in different models. HSI (Heat Stress Index) appears to be the best predictor because of its including the factor of metabolic work load. NET (New Effective Temperature) seems to be the best one among the pure thermal indices. WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) and DB (Dry Bulb Temperature) are two easily obtained thermal indices for predicting human safety behaviors.

scholarly journals Arduino-based prototype to estimate heat stress indices in urban environments

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Vargas-Salgado ◽  
Lina Montuori ◽  
Paula Bastida-Molina ◽  
David Alfoso-Solar
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Atmospheric Pressure ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Tree Planting ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Wet Bulb Globe Temperature ◽  
Globe Temperature ◽  
Heat Stress Index ◽  
Radiant Temperature ◽  
Comfort Indices

Thermal comfort indices are normally used for assessing and controlling heat stress conditions in both: insides and outsides environment. In this paper, the results of the design and test of an Arduino-base prototype for estimating heat stress index is presented.  This prototype allows the accurate detection of wind speed, air temperature, relative humidity, precipitation, atmospheric pressure, irradiation and globe temperature. By means of these parameters, it is possible to obtain indices such as mean radiant temperature (MRT) and wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT). As a result, the indices are estimated, storage in a database and analyzed. These values will be used in the future to measure the mitigation of heat stress in urban environments, by means of the construction of green facades and green roof or tree planting.

A new outdoor environmental heat index (OEHI) as a simple and applicable heat stress index for evaluation of outdoor workers

Urban Climate ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 100479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farideh Golbabaei ◽  
Hamidreza Heidari ◽  
Aliakbar Shamsipour ◽  
Abbas Rahimi Forushani ◽  
Abbasali Gaeini
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Heat Index ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Outdoor Workers ◽  
Heat Stress Index

scholarly journals Climate projections of a multi-variate heat stress index: the role of downscaling and bias correction

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Casanueva ◽  
Sven Kotlarski ◽  
Sixto Herrera ◽  
Andreas M. Fischer ◽  
Tord Kjellstrom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Bias Correction ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Dew Point ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Corrected Data ◽  
Heat Stress Index

Abstract. Along with the higher demand of bias-corrected data for climate impact studies, the number of available data sets has largely increased in the recent years. For instance, the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) constitutes a framework for consistently projecting the impacts of climate change across affected sectors and spatial scales. These data are very attractive for any impact application since they offer worldwide bias-corrected data based on Global Climate Models (GCMs). Complementary, the CORDEX initiative has incorporated experiments based on regionally-downscaled bias-corrected data by means of debiasing and quantile mapping (QM) methods. In light of this situation, it is challenging to distil the most accurate and useful information for climate services, but at the same time it creates a perfect framework for intercomparison and sensitivity analyses. In the present study, the trend-preserving ISIMIP method and empirical QM are applied to climate model simulations that were carried out at different spatial resolutions (CMIP5 GCM and EURO-CORDEX Regional Climate Models (RCMs), at approximately 150 km, 50 km and 12 km horizontal resolution, respectively) in order to assess the role of downscaling and bias correction in a multi-variate framework. The analysis is carried out for the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a heat stress index that is commonly used in the context of working people and labour productivity. WBGT for shaded conditions depends on air temperature and dew point temperature, which in this work are individually bias-corrected prior to the index calculation. Our results show that the added value of RCMs with respect to the driving GCM is limited after bias correction. The two bias correction methods are able to adjust the central part of the WBGT distribution, but some added value of QM is found in WBGT percentiles and in the intervariable relationships. The evaluation in present climate of such multivariate indices should be performed with caution since biases in the individual variables might compensate, thus leading to better performance for the wrong reason. Climate change projections of WBGT reveal a larger increase of summer mean heat stress for the GCM than for the RCMs, related to the well-known reduced summer warming of the EURO-CORDEX RCMs. These differences are lowered after QM, since this bias correction method modifies the change signals and brings the results for GCM and RCMs closer to each other. We also highlight the need of large ensembles of simulations to assess the feasibility of the derived projections.

Assessment of Heat Stress and Heart Rate Variability Monitoring for Foundry Workers (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elayaraja R ◽  
Subramaniam D Sr
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Heart Rate Variability ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Atmospheric Temperature ◽  
Heart Beat ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Thermal Pressure ◽  
Globe Temperature ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Heat Stress Index

UNSTRUCTURED - Background: Industrial employee studies the thermal pressure arises from both warm (or) cold running environment. Foundry is an arena in which metals are melted and casted with producing extensive quantity of heat. The temperature is in crescendo due to very high melting temperature and fallacious ventilation. Due to those hot foundry environments, the beat of coronary heart fee of the individual will range due to difference in temperature of skin and atmospheric temperature. Objective: This paper specializes in parameters and elements which might be used to symbolize thermal pressure and to evaluate the warmth pressure of foundry employees using Heat Stress Index (H.S.I) and Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) also to monitor the coronary heart rate variability of foundry people. Methods: H.S.I studying became cited to get entry to on foundry. The readings along with velocity of air (Vair), dry bulb temperature (Ta) and moist bulb temperature of air (Tn) had been recorded at 5 extraordinary employee positions for the duration of melting and pouring operations in the foundry. The coronary heart price was recorded the use of heart rate monitoring device in melting and pouring sections of foundry. Results: The two different indices particularly H.S.I and WBGT are considered for decided on workplace. The have a look at discovered a higher H.S.I score of 30.36 while pouring molten metallic from furnace to ladle, in melting segment and reduced by using increasing the speed of air to 23.25 which indicates 23.Four% of warmth from the surroundings decreased is an appropriate H.S.I score consistent with Belding & Hatch Heat Stress Index. As consistent with the ACGIH recommendations, the WBGT index is falling underneath the scheme of 25% paintings and 75% relaxation regimen. The most heart beat fee turned into 159bpm even as pouring molten steel from ladle to mould box and the most coronary heart beat price became 135bpm for the duration of loading of metallic strips into the furnace. The hazard factors may be analyzed in the decided on segment of foundry. Conclusion: Thermal pressure from furnace can be reduced by using installing a non- emissive warmness protect among furnace and employee, with the aid of providing protecting device, by growing velocity of air and with the aid of automating the pouring operation. Insulating reduces the heat exchange among the supply of warmth and the ambience temperature. The attention of lowering humidity like dehumidification, aircon and elimination of open hot furnace, leaky steam valves allows to lessen humidity. Recommendations may be suggested to adjust the posture of foundry people as a way to lessen the coronary heart charge.

Can a local weather station be used in place of on-site measurements for heat stress assessment in a sports setting?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Cahill ◽  
Andrew Grundstein ◽  
Christian Walker ◽  
Earl Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Subtropical Climate ◽  
Wet Bulb Globe Temperature ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Weather Stations ◽  
Globe Temperature ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Local Weather

<p>Across the globe, exposure to environmental heat stress may impose increased health and safety hazards to active populations such as athletes and workers. Monitoring heat stress is a key component of a well-designed heat mitigation policy. Yet, the cost of several hand-held heat stress sensors may pose a financial barrier for use in many circumstances. Numerous areas, however, have existing networks of weather stations that could potentially be incorporated into monitoring heat stress. Currently, the Japanese Ministry of the Environment has set up a network of weather stations across the city to monitor environmental conditions in preparation of the 2021 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games. Our research question asks how representative are the values recorded at local weather stations (often located over a natural surface) to playing field conditions with various surfaces and microclimate conditions. In the U.S. the WeatherSTEM network has over 600 stations scattered across the country and measures a suite of variables relevant to heat stress including air temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar radiation and models the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) values. This study will compare measurements from a local WeatherSTEM station with on-site measurements taken over three different playing surfaces (grass, synthetic turf, and hardcourt tennis) in a humid subtropical climate in Athens, Georgia. U.S. It will also compare WBGT values computed using different models. Our results may provide insight not only for sports but also for the workplace which take place over various surface types and environments.</p>

The heat is on: Observations and trends of heat stress metrics during Florida summers

2022 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Stress ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Heat Index ◽  
Daily Maximum ◽  
Wet Bulb Globe Temperature ◽  
Key West ◽  
Outdoor Work ◽  
Temperature And Humidity ◽  
Globe Temperature

Abstract Extreme heat is annually the deadliest weather hazard in the U.S. and is strongly amplified by climate change. In Florida, summer heat waves have increased in frequency and duration, exacerbating negative human health impacts on a state with a substantial older population and industries (e.g., agriculture) that require frequent outdoor work. However, the combined impacts of temperature and humidity (heat stress) have not been previously investigated. For eight Florida cities, this study constructs summer climatologies and trend analyses (1950–2020) of two heat stress metrics: heat index (HI) and wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT). While both incorporate temperature and humidity, WBGT also includes wind and solar radiation, and is a more comprehensive measure of heat stress on the human body. With minor exceptions, results show increases in average summer daily maximum, mean, and minimum HI and WBGT throughout Florida. Daily minimum HI and WBGT exhibit statistically significant increases at all eight stations, emphasizing a hazardous rise in nighttime heat stress. Corresponding to other recent studies, HI and WBGT increases are largest in coastal subtropical locations in Central and South Florida (i.e., Daytona Beach, Tampa, Miami, Key West), but exhibit no conclusive relationship with urbanization changes. Finally, danger (103–124°F) HI and high (> 88°F) WBGT summer days exhibit significant frequency increases across the state. Especially at coastal locations in the Florida Peninsula and Keys, danger HI and high WBGT days now account for > 20% of total summer days, emphasizing a substantial escalation in heat stress, particularly since 2000.

scholarly journals Climate projections of a multivariate heat stress index: the role of downscaling and bias correction

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3419-3438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Casanueva ◽  
Sven Kotlarski ◽  
Sixto Herrera ◽  
Andreas M. Fischer ◽  
Tord Kjellstrom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Bias Correction ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Dew Point ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Stress Index ◽  
Corrected Data ◽  
Heat Stress Index

Abstract. Along with the higher demand for bias-corrected data for climate impact studies, the number of available data sets has largely increased in recent years. For instance, the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP) constitutes a framework for consistently projecting the impacts of climate change across affected sectors and spatial scales. These data are very attractive for any impact application since they offer worldwide bias-corrected data based on global climate models (GCMs). In a complementary way, the CORDEX initiative has incorporated experiments based on regionally downscaled bias-corrected data by means of debiasing and quantile mapping (QM) methods. In light of this situation, it is challenging to distil the most accurate and useful information for climate services, but at the same time it creates a perfect framework for intercomparison and sensitivity analyses. In the present study, the trend-preserving ISIMIP method and empirical QM are applied to climate model simulations that were carried out at different spatial resolutions (CMIP5 GCM and EURO-CORDEX regional climate models (RCMs), at approximately 150, 50 and 12 km horizontal resolution) in order to assess the role of downscaling and bias correction in a multivariate framework. The analysis is carried out for the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a heat stress index that is commonly used in the context of working people and labour productivity. WBGT for shaded conditions depends on air temperature and dew-point temperature, which in this work are individually bias corrected prior to the index calculation. Our results show that the added value of RCMs with respect to the driving GCM is limited after bias correction. The two bias correction methods are able to adjust the central part of the WBGT distribution, but some added value of QM is found in WBGT percentiles and in the inter-variable relationships. The evaluation in present climate of such multivariate indices should be performed with caution since biases in the individual variables might compensate, thus leading to better performance for the wrong reason. Climate change projections of WBGT reveal a larger increase in summer mean heat stress for the GCM than for the RCMs, related to the well-known reduced summer warming of the EURO-CORDEX RCMs. These differences are lowered after QM, since this bias correction method modifies the change signals and brings the results for the GCM and RCMs closer to each other. We also highlight the need for large ensembles of simulations to assess the feasibility of the derived projections.

scholarly journals An Evaluation of Portable Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Monitor Accuracy

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (12) ◽  
pp. 1161-1167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Earl Cooper ◽  
Andrew Grundstein ◽  
Adam Rosen ◽  
Jessica Miles ◽  
Jupil Ko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Heat Stress ◽  
Sports Medicine ◽  
Pearson Correlation ◽  
Heat Stroke ◽  
Heat Index ◽  
Mean Bias Error ◽  
Bias Error ◽  
Wet Bulb Globe Temperature ◽  
Globe Temperature

Context:  Wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is the gold standard for assessing environmental heat stress during physical activity. Many manufacturers of commercially available instruments fail to report WBGT accuracy. Objective:  To determine the accuracy of several commercially available WBGT monitors compared with a standardized reference device. Design:  Observational study. Setting:  Field test. Patients or Other Participants:  Six commercially available WBGT devices. Main Outcome Measure(s):  Data were recorded for 3 sessions (1 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon) at 2-minute intervals for at least 2 hours. Mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), mean bias error (MBE), and the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) were calculated to determine instrument performance compared with the reference unit. Results:  The QUESTemp° 34 (MAE = 0.24°C, RMSE = 0.44°C, MBE = –0.64%) and Extech HT30 Heat Stress Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Meter (Extech; MAE = 0.61°C, RMSE = 0.79°C, MBE = 0.44%) demonstrated the least error in relation to the reference standard, whereas the General WBGT8778 Heat Index Checker (General; MAE = 1.18°C, RMSE = 1.34°C, MBE = 4.25%) performed the poorest. The QUESTemp° 34 and Kestrel 4400 Heat Stress Tracker units provided conservative measurements that slightly overestimated the WBGT provided by the reference unit. Finally, instruments using the psychrometric wet bulb temperature (General, REED Heat Index WBGT Meter, and WBGT-103 Heat Stroke Checker) tended to underestimate the WBGT, and the resulting values more frequently fell into WBGT-based activity categories with fewer restrictions as defined by the American College of Sports Medicine. Conclusions:  The QUESTemp° 34, followed by the Extech, had the smallest error compared with the reference unit. Moreover, the QUESTemp° 34, Extech, and Kestrel units appeared to offer conservative yet accurate assessments of the WBGT, potentially minimizing the risk of allowing physical activity to continue in stressful heat environments. Instruments using the psychrometric wet bulb temperature tended to underestimate WBGT under low wind-speed conditions. Accurate WBGT interpretations are important to enable clinicians to guide activities in hot and humid weather conditions.

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