Measuring facial cooling in outdoor windy winter conditions: an exploratory study

• Published in: International journal of biometeorology Vol. 61; no. 10; pp. 1831 - 1835
• Main Authors: Briggs, Andrew G. S., Gillespie, Terry J., Brown, Robert D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.10.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Air temperature; Animal Physiology; Biological and Medical Physics; Biophysics; Body temperature; Cheek; Cold Temperature; Cooling; Cooling rate; Decay; Decay rate; Earth and Environmental Science; Environment; Environmental Health; Face; Female; Humans; Imagery; Insulation; Male; Meteorology; Neck; Nose; Original Paper; Plant Physiology; Skin Temperature; Wind; Wind speed; Winter; Microclimate; Convection; Thermal camera
• ISSN: 0020-7128; 1432-1254
• DOI: 10.1007/s00484-017-1368-3

Winter clothing provides insulation for almost all of a person’s body, but in most situations, a person’s face remains uncovered even in cold windy weather. This exploratory study used thermal imagery to record the rate of cooling of the faces of volunteers in a range of winter air temperatures and wind speeds. Different areas of the faces cooled at different rates with the areas around the eyes and neck cooling at the slowest rate, and the nose and cheeks cooling at the fastest rate. In all cases, the faces cooled at an approximately logarithmic decay for the first few minutes. This was followed by a small rise in the temperature of the face for a few minutes, which was then followed by an uninterrupted logarithmic decay. Volunteers were told to indicate when their face was so cold that they wanted to end the test. The total amount of time and the facial temperature at the end of each trial were recorded. The results provide insight into the way faces cool in uncontrolled, outdoor winter conditions.