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Wind chill reconsidered, Siple revisited.
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine
|January 1, 1986
Summary
Clothing significantly impacts heat loss in windy conditions. Studies show that while wind increases heat loss from bare surfaces, clothing, especially when wet or protected by raincoats, mitigates this effect, limiting wind chill
Area of Science:
- Environmental science
- Human physiology
- Textile science
Background:
- Wind chill is a measure of the cooling effect of wind on exposed skin.
- Understanding heat transfer in clothing is crucial for thermal comfort and protection.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how clothing affects heat loss under various wind conditions.
- To determine the influence of wetness and temperature on the protective properties of clothing against wind chill.
Main Methods:
- Experiments using bare and clothed cylinders exposed to different wind velocities and temperatures.
- Measurements of heat loss from cylinders with dry and wet clothing.
- Evaluation of the impact of raincoats and freezing conditions on heat loss.
Main Results:
- Clothing effectively reduced heat loss associated with increased wind velocity compared to bare cylinders.
- Evaporation from wet clothing increased with wind, but overall heat loss did not increase.
- Raincoats and freezing temperatures significantly reduced heat loss from wet clothing.
Conclusions:
- The concept of wind chill is applicable only to unprotected surfaces.
- Clothing provides significant thermal protection against wind chill effects.
- The effectiveness of clothing protection depends on its state (dry/wet) and environmental factors like temperature and precipitation.