A study of wind chill effect at Maitri, Antarctica

The influence of meteorological parameters like wind and temperature determine the chillness upon the human body. The rate of heat removal from the human body by wind and low temperature was termed as Wind Chill by Siple and Passel (1945). Using the wind chill chart wind chill effects at Maitri, Antarctica during 1990 have been studied and compared with conventional value of monthly mean dry bulb and minimum temperatures. It has been observed that the wind chili temperature was about 15°-25°C lower than the dry bulb temperature when the wind speed exceeds 10 kt.

Windtech – A Sensory Device for ‘Cold’ Sensation Measurements

Windtech device is a novel tool for measuring the sensation of the ‘cold’. Cold poses numerous challenges for industrial operations, human survival, and living convenience. The impact of the cold is not possible to be quantified just based on temperatures; however other factors such as wind speed, humidity, irradiance have to be taken into consideration. Efforts have been made to develop combined indices such as wind chill temperature (WCT), AccuWeather RealFeel®, and others. The presented article discusses these along with the industrial standards that emphasize on the quantification of the ‘cold’. The following article introduces the Windtech device and its operating principle involving ‘heated temperature’, where the ‘heated temperature’ is affected by environmental parameters including ambient temperature, humidity, wind velocity, and irradiance. The discussed Windtech device is calibrated for operation according to the ISO 11079:2007 standard.

A short term characterisation of wind and temperature over Maitri, East Antarctica

Polar Science is gaining increased importance in Climate Change studies because of the profound influence Polar Climatology has on the Global Climate. Research shows that Antarctica seems to be warming around the edges and cooling at the center at the same time. East Antarctica is climatologically colder than west Antarctica because of its higher elevation. A short term characterization of wind and the temperature over Maitri is attempted in this paper. Maximum and Minimum temperatures showed a tendency to decrease with winter contributing the most to the change. The Wind Directions were predominantly South-South-Easterly in summer and autumn and South-Easterly in winter and spring, with katabatic winds showing the maximum frequency in autumn. The wind speeds were found to be most variable in winter. Greater contributions to the wind chill temperatures were found from the winds, with the tendency for change being more prominent in the transition seasons.

Influence of Anthropometric Characteristics on Ice Swimming Performance—The IISA Ice Mile and Ice Km

Ice swimming following the rules of IISA (International Ice Swimming Association) is a recent sports discipline starting in 2009. Since then, hundreds of athletes have completed an Ice Mile or an Ice Km in water colder than 5 °C. This study aimed to expand our knowledge about swimmers completing an Ice Mile or an Ice Km regarding the influence of anthropometric characteristics (i.e., body mass, body height, and body mass index, BMI) on performance. We analyzed data from 957 swimmers in the Ice Km (590 men and 367 women) and 585 swimmers in the Ice Mile (334 men and 251 women). No differences were found for anthropometric characteristics between swimmers completing an Ice Mile and an Ice Km although water temperatures and wind chill were lower in the Ice Km than in the Ice Mile. Men were faster than women in both the Ice Mile and Ice Km. Swimming speed decreased significantly with increasing age, body mass, and BMI in both women and men in both the Ice Mile and Ice Km. Body height was positively correlated to swimming speed in women in the Ice Km. Air temperature was significantly and negatively related to swimming speed in the Ice Km but not in the Ice Mile. Water temperature was not associated with swimming speed in men in both the Ice Mile and Ice Km but significantly and negatively in women in Ice Km. In summary, swimmers intending to complete an Ice Mile or an Ice Km do not need to have a high body mass and/or a high BMI to swim these distances fast.

Comparison of Environmental Conditions on Summits of Mount Everest and K2 in Climbing and Midwinter Seasons

(1) Background: Today’s elite alpinists target K2 and Everest in midwinter. This study aimed to asses and compare weather at the summits of both peaks in the climbing season (Everest, May; K2, July) and the midwinter season (January and February). (2) Methods: We assessed environmental conditions using the ERA5 dataset (1979–2019). Analyses examined barometric pressure (BP), temperature (Temp), wind speed (Wind), perceived altitude (Alt), maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), vertical climbing speed (Speed), wind chill equivalent temperature (WCT), and facial frostbite time (FFT). (3) Results: Most climbing-season parameters were found to be more severe (p < 0.05) on Everest than on K2: BP (333 ± 1 vs. 347 ± 1 hPa), Alt (8925 ± 20 vs. 8640 ± 20 m), VO2max (16.2 ± 0.1 vs. 17.8 ± 0.1 ml·kg−1·min−1), Speed (190 ± 2 vs. 223 ± 2 m·h−1), Temp (−26 ± 1 vs. −21 ± 1°C), WCT (−45 ± 2 vs. −37 ± 2 °C), and FFT (6 ± 1 vs. 11 ± 2 min). Wind was found to be similar (16 ± 3 vs. 15 ± 3 m·s−1). Most midwinter parameters were found to be worse (p < 0.05) on Everest vs. K2: BP (324 ± 2 vs. 326 ± 2 hPa), Alt (9134 ± 40 vs. 9095 ± 48 m), VO2max (15.1 ± 0.2 vs. 15.3 ± 0.3 ml·kg−1·min−1), Speed (165 ± 5 vs. 170 ± 6 m·h−1), Wind (41 ± 6 vs. 27 ± 4 m·s−1), and FFT (<1 min vs. 1 min). Everest’s Temp of −36 ± 2 °C and WCT −66 ± 3 °C were found to be less extreme than K2’s Temp of −45 ± 1 °C and WCT −76 ± 2 °C. (4) Conclusions: Everest presents more extreme conditions in the climbing and midwinter seasons than K2. K2’s 8° higher latitude makes its midwinter BP similar and Temp lower than Everest’s. K2’s midwinter conditions are more severe than Everest’s in the climbing season.

Assessment of health risk by wind chill factor in the Krasnoyarsk Krai

Wind affects functional state and health of human beings. Physical activity mitigates the risk of hypothermia, but not the discomfort felt in cold winds. Moreover, there appears a risk of body cooling and frostbite. This study aimed to assess the risk to health of a human being associated with the wind chill factor index in the various climatic zones of a Russian region. The calculation relied on the mean monthly daily temperature and wind speed values, minimum temperature and maximum wind values registered in the subarctic and continental climate zones during the two climatological normals determination observation periods, 19611990 (second period) and 1991–2020 (third period). In the third period, a significant decrease in wind strength was registered in the subarctic (8 months) and temperate continental (9 months) climates. The mean monthly temperatures increased in April by 3.5 °C (p = 0.006), April–June by 4.05 °C (p = 0.001) and 3.9 °C (p = 0.001). The maximum wind in the subarctic climate did not change, in the temperate continental zone it decreased within 9 months; the minimum temperature increased in 4 and 1 months. In the subarctic zone, the mean temperature and wind values made the ambient conditions uncomfortable for 6 months (versus 7), with one characterized as "extremely cold"; the cold exposure risk decreased during the "very cold" period; in the temperate climate zone, the potentially uncomfortable conditions period lasted for 4 months (versus 6). With wind at the maximum and temperature at the minimum, in the subarctic climate, the weather remained severe for 8 months a year in each of the determination periods ("uncomfortable, chilly" — 2 months, "cold, skin surface hypothermia" — 1 month, "extremely cold, possible hypothermia of the exposed parts of the body in 10 minutes" — 5 months); in the temperate continental climate zone, it was severe for 5 months of each year ("uncomfortable, chilly" — 2 months, "cold, skin surface hypothermia" — 3 month).