Windchill Index and Military Applications

William R. Santee
Aviat Space Environ Med 2002; 73:699-702

Abstract

A new Windchill Apparent Temperature (WCT) has been introduced to replace the Windchill Index (WCI) and Windchill Equivalent Temperature (WCET) used to quantify cold exposure. From the time of its introduction the WCI has been criticized on scientific grounds. Despite a history of criticism, the WCI and the derived WCET have been adopted by military and civilian organizations to characterize the hazards presented by exposure to cold environments. However, the military has specific needs that differ from those of the civilian population. Thus, additional weather products and devices, including thermoregulatory models, environmental monitors, and personal physiological status monitors, are available to supplement the revised WCT.

Keywords: windchill, cold weather, thermal indices, modeling.

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Table of Contents for Volume 73, Number 7 of the ASME journal.