Development process and features of Universal Thermal Climate Index

Abstract

The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was developed as an index to evaluate outdoor thermal environment related to health impacts and thermal comfort and applicable to all climates, seasons, temporal and spatial scales. Although it was conceived by the International Society of Biometeorology and has been developed for about 10 years, it has not been widely used in Japan. This paper outlines the background of the development of the UTCI, the definition of the UTCI, the multi-node thermo-physiological model and the derivation of UTCI, and the calculation method of the UTCI.