Assessing a population's exposure to heat and humidity: an empirical approach
Background: It is widely accepted that assessing the impact of heat on populations is an important aspect of climate change research. However, this raises questions about how best to measure people's exposure to heat under everyday living conditions in more detail than is possible by rely...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2010-09-01
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| Series: | Global Health Action |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/5421/6019 |
| _version_ | 1818755008141721600 |
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| author | Peter Byass Wayne Twine Mark Collinson Stephen Tollman Tord Kjellstrom |
| author_facet | Peter Byass Wayne Twine Mark Collinson Stephen Tollman Tord Kjellstrom |
| author_sort | Peter Byass |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: It is widely accepted that assessing the impact of heat on populations is an important aspect of climate change research. However, this raises questions about how best to measure people's exposure to heat under everyday living conditions in more detail than is possible by relying on nearby sources of meteorological data. Objective: This study aimed to investigate practical and viable approaches to measuring air temperature and humidity within a population, making comparisons with contemporaneous external data sources. This was done in a rural South African population during the subtropical summer season. Results: Air temperature and humidity were measured indoors and outdoors at three locations over 10 days and the datalogger technology proved reliable and easy to use. There was little variation in measurements over distances of 10 km. Conclusions: Small battery-powered automatic dataloggers proved to be a feasible option for collecting weather data among a rural South African population. These data were consistent with external sources but offered more local detail. Detailed local contemporary data may also allow post hoc modelling of previously unmeasured local weather data in conjunction with global gridded climate models. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T05:32:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-96899887522f4948b521abc0dbcd63d9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1654-9880 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T05:32:19Z |
| publishDate | 2010-09-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Health Action |
| spelling | doaj.art-96899887522f4948b521abc0dbcd63d92022-12-21T21:19:24ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGlobal Health Action1654-98802010-09-01301510.3402/gha.v3i0.5421Assessing a population's exposure to heat and humidity: an empirical approachPeter ByassWayne TwineMark CollinsonStephen TollmanTord KjellstromBackground: It is widely accepted that assessing the impact of heat on populations is an important aspect of climate change research. However, this raises questions about how best to measure people's exposure to heat under everyday living conditions in more detail than is possible by relying on nearby sources of meteorological data. Objective: This study aimed to investigate practical and viable approaches to measuring air temperature and humidity within a population, making comparisons with contemporaneous external data sources. This was done in a rural South African population during the subtropical summer season. Results: Air temperature and humidity were measured indoors and outdoors at three locations over 10 days and the datalogger technology proved reliable and easy to use. There was little variation in measurements over distances of 10 km. Conclusions: Small battery-powered automatic dataloggers proved to be a feasible option for collecting weather data among a rural South African population. These data were consistent with external sources but offered more local detail. Detailed local contemporary data may also allow post hoc modelling of previously unmeasured local weather data in conjunction with global gridded climate models.http://www.globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/5421/6019climateweatherpopulation measurementtemperaturehumidityheat stress |
| spellingShingle | Peter Byass Wayne Twine Mark Collinson Stephen Tollman Tord Kjellstrom Assessing a population's exposure to heat and humidity: an empirical approach Global Health Action climate weather population measurement temperature humidity heat stress |
| title | Assessing a population's exposure to heat and humidity: an empirical approach |
| title_full | Assessing a population's exposure to heat and humidity: an empirical approach |
| title_fullStr | Assessing a population's exposure to heat and humidity: an empirical approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing a population's exposure to heat and humidity: an empirical approach |
| title_short | Assessing a population's exposure to heat and humidity: an empirical approach |
| title_sort | assessing a population x0027 s exposure to heat and humidity an empirical approach |
| topic | climate weather population measurement temperature humidity heat stress |
| url | http://www.globalhealthaction.net/index.php/gha/article/view/5421/6019 |
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