Estimation of off‐farm temperatures and temperature‐humidity index from meteorological observation records

• Published in: Animal science journal Vol. 94; no. 1; pp. e13902 - n/a
• Main Authors: Satoh, Masahiro, Fukuzawa, Yo, Ogawa, Shinichiro, Okamura, Toshihiro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Australia Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2023
• Subjects: accuracy of temperature estimation; Air temperature; Ambient temperature; Animals; Correlation coefficient; Correlation coefficients; daily off‐farm ambient temperature; Estimation; Farms; Hot Temperature; Humidity; Japan; meteorological observation data; piggery temperature; Relative humidity; Swine; Temperature; temperature‐humidity index; Weather; Weather stations; Japan; accuracy of temperature estimation; meteorological observation data; piggery temperature; daily off-farm ambient temperature; temperature-humidity index
• ISSN: 1344-3941; 1740-0929
• DOI: 10.1111/asj.13902

The objective of this study was to devise an optimal method for estimating air temperatures outside pig farms to be able to evaluate the genetic performance of pigs. Using daily temperature data from Japan Meteorological Agency meteorological stations, we investigated the optimal number of observation weather stations (number of records), and methods of estimating outside temperature when temperature records are missing. We also considered the possibility of using relative humidity data. Our results showed that it is possible to use records from the three nearest weather stations to estimate off‐farm ambient temperatures. We also concluded that estimates of outside temperatures when records are missing can be made by using data from at least one weather station that holds a full set of data. The correlation coefficients between the true THI (temperature‐humidity index) and the estimated THI and the average daily temperature were almost the same, indicating that the daily average temperature can be used instead of estimated THI.