Wind-chill equations predicting whole-body heat loss for a range of typical civilian outdoor clothing ensembles.

A thermal manikin with constant skin temperature and a wind-chill tunnel with constant air temperatures and wind speeds were used to measure whole-body heat loss for seven ensembles chosen to represent the full range of civilian outdoor clothing in use for everyday, nonsporting wear. Equations fitting the data with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.99 were derived for each ensemble, and diagrams were produced with these equations to interpolate and extend the range of conditions. The conditions studied were those resulting in total heat loss from 50 to 250 W.m-2, so very little extrapolation was required. The wind-chill equivalent temperature (with reference to 2 m.s-1), based on the average value for all seven ensembles, showed good agreement on this measure. The values predicted on the basis of whole-body heat loss through clothing were shown to be much lower than those predicted from the Siple wind-chill index for unprotected skin.