Evaluation and Refinement of the Environment Stress Index (ESI) for Different Climatic Conditions
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the newly constructed environmental stress index (ESI) for a large database consisting of various climatic conditions. This index was applied to database measurements from 19 various locations. Data analysis revealed high correlation between ESI and the wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) index for each of the databases from the 19 different locations. However, validity from statistical analysis, including optimization procedures, slightly changed the ESI constants as follows: ESI = 0.62Ta-0.007RH+0.0002SR+0.0043(Ta.RH)-0.078(0.1 + SR)-1 where: Ta = ambient temperature (oC); RH = relative humidity (%); and SR = solar radiation (W.m-2). This new refined index and the WBGT index were applied to databases of more than 126,000 measurements for each variable Ta, RH, SR, black globe temperature (Tg), and wet bulb temperature (Tw). ESI was then successfully correlated with WBGT for each of the 19 different databases (P < 0.05, R2 > 0.899). Therefore, it is concluded that ESI, which is constructed from fast response and commonly used weather sensors (Ta, RH, SR), is a potential index to serve as an alternative to the WBGT for heat category assessment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA404341
Entities
People
- A. Laor
- D. S. Moran
- K. B. Pandolf
- W. T. Matthew
- Y. Heled
Organizations
- United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine