Abstract
AbstractThe mean radiant temperature (MRT) and the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) are widely used as human biometeorology parameters to assess the linkages between outdoor environment and human well‐being. Historically computed from meteorological station measurements, we here present ERA5‐HEAT (Human thErmAl comforT), the first historical dataset of MRT and UTCI as spatially gridded records at the global scale. Derived using climate variables from ERA5, a quality‐controlled reanalysis produced by the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) within the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), ERA5‐HEAT consists of hourly gridded maps of MRT and UTCI at 0.25° × 0.25° spatial resolution. It currently spans from 1979 to present, and it will be extended in time as updates of ERA5 are made available. ERA5‐HEAT provides two streams, a consolidated and an intermediate one, that are released at 2 or 3 months and 5 days behind real time, respectively. Data are publicly and freely available for download at the Climate Data Store which has been developed as part of C3S. Being the only existing global historical gridded time series of MRT and UTCI to date, ERA5‐HEAT is aimed at a wide range of end users, from scientists to policymakers, with an interest in environment–health applications at any spatial and temporal scale.
Highlights
In recent years, the occurrence of extreme meteorological events with detrimental impacts on public health has uncovered the close linkages between human well-being and the environment
This paper presents the first reanalysis dataset ever produced for two biometeorology-relevant indices: the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) and mean radiant temperature (MRT)
The dataset, called ERA5-HEAT (Human thErmAl comforT), uses environmental data from ERA5, the latest global climate reanalysis created by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), to generate worldwide historical gridded maps of UTCI and MRT spanning the most recent decades
Summary
The occurrence of extreme meteorological events with detrimental impacts on public health has uncovered the close linkages between human well-being and the environment. It has been applied to investigate the negative impacts of heat and cold exposure on human comfort and health, within vulnerable groups (Urban and Kyselý, 2014; Burkart et al, 2016; Krzyżewska et al, 2017; Romaszko et al, 2017, 2019; Błażejczyk et al, 2018; Di Napoli et al, 2018, 2019; Skutecki et al, 2019) It has been implemented as a forecasting tool for weather conditions associated to thermal. The dataset, called ERA5-HEAT (Human thErmAl comforT), uses environmental data from ERA5, the latest global climate reanalysis created by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), to generate worldwide historical gridded maps of UTCI and MRT spanning the most recent decades. These, together with the stacks of Ta, va, solar radiation and thermal radiation, are the input files to the calculation of the dataset
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