Estimation of Time-Course Core Temperature and Water Loss in Realistic Adult and Child Models with Urban Micrometeorology Prediction

Abstract

Ambient conditions may change rapidly and notably over time in urban areas. Conventional indices, such as the heat index and wet bulb globe temperature, are useful only in stationary ambient conditions. To estimate the risks of heat-related illness, human thermophysiological responses should be followed for ambient conditions in the time domain. We develop a computational method for estimating the time course of core temperature and water loss by combining micrometeorology and human thermal response. We firstly utilize an urban micrometeorology prediction to reproduce the environment surrounding walkers. The temperature elevations and sweating in a standard adult and child are then estimated for meteorological conditions. With the integrated computational method, we estimate the body temperature and thermophysiological responses for an adult and child walking along a street with two routes (sunny and shaded) in Tokyo on 7 August 2015. The difference in the core temperature elevation in the adult between the two routes was 0.11 °C, suggesting the necessity for a micrometeorology simulation. The differences in the computed body core temperatures and water loss of the adult and child were notable, and were mainly characterized by the surface area-to-mass ratio. The computational techniques will be useful for the selection of actions to manage the risk of heat-related illness and for thermal comfort.