BuildingandEnvironment,Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 11-24, 1986 0360-1323/86 $3.00+0.

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Printed in Great Britain. Pergamon Journals Ltd.

Tropical Summer Index--a Study of

Thermal Comfort of Indian Subjects
M. R. SHARMA*
SHARAFAT ALI*

With a view to determining the comfort conditions for hot-dry and warm-humid conditions in India,
simultaneous observations of their thermal sensations and the prevailing environmental conditions
were taken by 18 young, male adults, six each year, over a period of three consecutive summer seasons.
An equation has beenfound by multiple regression analysis expressing the thermal sensation in terms of
the environmental variables. From the equation an index of thermal comfort, called 'Tropical Summer
Index' has been developed which compares very well with several existing indices. The Tropical
Summer Index is expressed by a simple mathematical equation and isfound to be easy in application.

INTRODUCTION shirt, cotton trousers, under garments and open sandals

without socks) in sedentary posture or undertaking light
THE PURPOSE of an index of thermal comfort is to
activity in the months of May, June and July at the Central
estimate the influence of environmental factors either on
Building Research Institute, Roorkee.
the thermal sensation of people at rest (or engaged in light
Daytime observations were collected inside the
activities) or on their physiological responses, such as skin
laboratory and in the evening just around sunset; weather
temperature, rectal temperature, pulse rate and sweat rate.
permitting, the subjects moved outdoors, to conform to the
In the case of buildings, the interest of the designer lies in
living habits of the population in general. Such a practice,
evaluating the relative warmth or coolness of an
incidentally, was also helpful in obtaining large variations
environment to determine whether the conditions are
in environmental conditions and the thermal responses, so
above, within, or below, the comfort conditions. Attempts
vital for good correlations. While indoors, abundant air
have been made over the years in various countries to
flow could be achieved with the help of ceiling fans,
develop thermal indices in respect of prevailing climatic
outdoors, of course, only natural conditions existed.
conditions but none of the large number of indices appears
Generally, the subjects did not have much visible
to be universally satisfactory over the entire range of
perspiration due to good air flow during the indoor
environmental conditions. For an index to be useful in
observations and the fact that evening and night time
building design, it ought to be simple to use and should
conditions outdoors were generally pleasant-to-cool,
correlate well with the thermal sensations of people
causing no perspiration.
engaged in their normal life routine. The fact that
thermally equivalent conditions produce different subjec-
tive sensations due to the level of adaptation, living M O D E O F OBSERVATIONS
patterns, eating habits, etc. is an added reason to look for
The subjects chosen were generally science graduates
an index of thermal comfort for Indian subjects.
and were thus able to record the environmental data by
Although some studies of the comfort conditions for
themselves after initial training. They were supplied indi-
Indian subjects have been reported in the literature [1--41
vidually with one set each of a whirling hygrometer, a 15 cm
extensive work on rational design of an index has been
globe thermometer on a wooden stand, a silvered Kata
lacking in India. The aim of this paper is to determine not
thermometer (Casella, 125-130°F range), a stop watch, a
only a simple index of thermal comfort but also the range
thermos flask for hot water and a muslin cloth for wiping
and optimum conditions of thermally acceptable environ-
the Kata thermometer dry. Observations were taken at
ments, for the hot<lry and warm-humid conditions pre-
half hourly intervals. During an 8-h assignment each day,
vailing in India.
the observers were required to rest for the first hour before
the commencement of recording their observations as they
M O D E O F STUDY had to reach the site of observations generally by cycling a
distance of 2-3 kin. One hour was considered sufficient to
It was considered appropriate to follow Webb's method
create conditions of rest, appropriate for the sedentary
1-5] of multiple regression analysis for this study since it has
posture. They were told to take, should they so wish, any
several obvious advantages. Observations were collected
cold or hot drinks at least 20 rain before the observations
from 18 fully acclimatised, young, male adults wearing
and also to record this fact on the observation sheet. The
their customary light summer clothing (half-sleeved cotton
observations were taken round the clock in three shifts
with two observers in different locations in each shift:
10 a.m.-6 p.m., 6 p.m.-2 a.m. and 2 a.m.-10 a.m. The ob-
* Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee 247667, India. servers were rotated from one shift to another every day.
11
12 M. R. Sharma and Sharafat Ali

Over a period of a month each observer could thus collect Table 2. Column-wise serial order of the environmental variables,
around 270-300 sets of observations. their simple derivatives and the thermal sensation

Variables

OBSERVATIONS 1 Dry-bulb temperature, t, (°C)

The observers were told as a first step to record their
thermal sensation on Bedford's scale of warmth [6] as
given below in Table 1.
Afterwards, they were asked to record dry-bulb tem-
perature, wet-bulb temperature, globe temperature and
the Kata cooling time, in that order. The total number of
observations from all the observers exceeded 5100.
The mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum
values of the environmental variables studied, together
with those of the thermal sensation, are presented in Fig. 1.
2 Wet-bulb temperature, tw (°C)
3 Globe temperature, t s (°C)
4 Water vapour pressure, p (mm Hg)
5 Air velocity, V(m s- 1)
6 Square root of air velocity, V 1/2 (m S-I) 1/2.
7 Air velocity × dry-bulb temperature, Vt,.
8 Square root of air velocity x dry-bulb temperature, Vl~2ta.
9 Mean radiant temperature, t~ (°C)
10 Thermal sensation (Bedford's scale number)

Criteria for the selection of the reyression equation

D A T A CONVERSION A high value of the square of the multiple correlation
coefficient (R 2) ensures a high correlation and low residual
A computer program was prepared to convert the mean sum of squares and is the first consideration. It is also
observations of dry-bulb temperature, wet-bulb tempera- to be considered how R E increases with addition of
ture, globe temperature and Kata cooling time into environmental variables and whether these additions are
environmental parameters and their simple derivatives. statistically significant.
Table 2 presents the serial order of the variables, column- A high coefficient of direct correlation between in-
wise. dependent variables can result in the values of regression
coefficients of the inter-correlated variables becoming
unstable from subject to subject with the result that
RANGE OF ENVIRONMENTAL VARIABLES variance may be exchanged between them. A direct
coefficient of correlation of 0.7 and above between in-
It can be seen from Fig. 1 that the ranges of the
dependent variables appears to be reasonable in avoid-
environmental variables and the thermal sensation
ing grouping such variables together. As such, tables of
covered during this study are roughly the following :
direct correlations were drawn in advance to avoid com-
Dry-bulb temperature 20°-41°C binations of environmental variables which are highly
Wet-bulb temperature 13°~30°C correlated with each other. The direct correlations are
Globe temperature 19°-43°C depicted in Fig. 2.
Air velocity 0-2.5 m s 1 The second criterion is a high value of t (Student's t-test
Thermal sensation too cool (2)-much too [7, p. 477]) for the regression coefficients of all the indivi-
warm (7). dual environmental variables. A 5% level of significance is
taken to be achieved by an equation when the t value of
all the regression coefficients included therein are greater
ANALYSIS OF THE DATA than + 1.96 (or less than - 1.96). Similarly values of t at
other levels of significance are 1.6448 for 10%, 2.2414 for
Multiple regression analysis of the data was carried out to
2.5%, 2.5758 for 1% and 3.29 for 0.1% level [7].
find the best correlation between the thermal sensation
and the set of environmental variables and to put them into
Possible combinations of environmental variables
an equation of the form
F r o m the direct correlation matrix shown in Fig. 2 it is
C = ata+btw+Ctg+...+d evident that ta, tg and ts are very strongly correlated and
only one of them can therefore be taken in the final
where C is the thermal assessment in numerical number
equation. Similarly, only one oft,, and p can be included in
on the Bedford scale of warmth and a, b, c, d are numerical
the equation at a time.
coefficients to be determined.
Constant term in the equation
The regression equation is of the form :
Table 1. Subjective scale of warmth sensation and the
= )'+al(X1-X1)+a2(X2-X2)+...
numerical numbers assigned to various thermal
sensations where Y is the predicted value of the thermal sensation
and ?" is its mean value, XI, X2,... are the various
Much too cool (MTC) 1
Too cool (TC) 2 environmental variables with 371,-~2,.-- their mean values.
Slightly cool (SC) 3 The equation results in the form :
Comfortable (COM) 4
Slightly warm (SW) 5 = ( Y + a l ) ( 1 + a 2 2 2 + . . - ) + ( a l X 1 -~-a2X2@ ...)
Too warm (TW) 6
Much too warm (MTW) 7 where ( ?" + a 1X 1 + ' " ) is a constant term, appearing in the
equation.
 Tropical Summer Index 13

16 18 20 22 2/' 26 28 30 32 3/, 36 38 /'0 /,2 /'/' /'6

TEMPERATURE - - oC

1
TEMPERATURE -- *C

16 10 20 22 2/, 26 28 30 32 3/` 36 38 /'0 /-2 /,/4 /'6

TEMPERATURE --°C

"¢. ~ O - ~ . • STANDARD DEVIATION

. . . . . O __ - - • MINIMUM VALUE
A A~ A A v A v
][L~-.-.-.-.-.-.-.~5 ~-C - _ - • • MAXIMUM VALUE
¢- • MEAN VALUE
I--I---I~---- I I "[ I I I I I I I
o I 2 3 4 5 6
METER PER SECOND

1 2 3 4 S G ? 8
LEVEL OF SENSATION

Fig. 1. Mean standard deviation, minimum and maximum values for environmental variables and thermal
sensation for all subjects.

Results of regression analysis individual regression coefficients, standard error and

The results of multiple regression analysis as obtained t values.
from the computer output contained the following (vi) Level of significance attained by all the regression
information : coefficients.
(i) Constant term.
(ii) Square of multiple correlation coefficient (R 2) Results of analysis
multiplied by 100. A tabular statement was prepared for all 18 subjects
(iii) Total degrees of freedom and those for the given showing R 2 and the highest level of significance attained
combination of variables. for various permutation and combinations of environ-
(iv) Total and residual sum of squares and their mean mental variables one at a time, two at a time, and so on, up
values. to all nine at a time. The mean R 2 for all the subjects for
(v) Serial n u m b e r of the variables (Table 2), their each combination was also determined. Table 3 presents
14 M. R. Sharma and Sharafat Ali

S - T H E R M A L SENSATION
TA- AIR TEMPERATURE
Tw--WET BULB TEMPERATURE
TG-GLOBE TEMPERATURE
P - WATER VAPOUR PRESSURE
V -- AIR VELOCITY
Ts--MEAN RADIANT TEMPERATURE
EACH DOT REPRESENTS
ONE SUBJECT
.. :-'~i TA

Tw
• : .::: ,.~.. . . . . . . :..'.:. Tw

TG
i. 3i . . , TG

P
,:4• • ill.'., . . . . . . . P

V
•.d
• ,•~o • :•o • ,.g%. ; •...: i•:. Li... ;~}. . . . . . . . . . :::. V

Ts J !i
• ,~.. , .L.,." .: .. : . . . , |lzd-.,-.-.;
0 .2 .t; .6 .8 0 .2 ./-., .6 .8 -0 .2 ./-, .6 .8 0 .2 .l., .6 .8 .2 .4 •6 .8 0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1.0
COEFFICIENT OF DIRECT CORRELATION

Fig. 2. Inter-correlations between thermal sensation and environmental variables for 18 subjects.

the number of subjects at various levels of significance for Test of significance of R 2 for successive additions of
some important combinations of environmental variables. variables
A glance at Table 3 helps to make the decision easy. The From the above analysis, it is clear that tj is superior to t a
first nine combinations represent one variable at a time. It in its relation to the thermal sensation. However, the choice
is readily seen that variables 1, 2, 3 and 9 (i.e. dry-bulb of further additions of other variables to t~ was made from
temperature, wet-bulb temperature, globe temperature the analysis of variance, using the F test [7], F being
designated as the variance ratio and expressed as"

mean improvement in regression sum of squares due to addition of the new variables
F=
mean residual sum of squares due to all the variables together

The value of F for 5 ~ level of significance = 3.87.

and mean radiant temperature, respectively) are signifi- Table 4 presents the analysis of variance for subject
cant at the 0.1~o level for all 18 subjects, and the mean No.1.
values of R z for them are 62.6, 30.7, 62.8 and 55.8, re- It is seen that the addition of a new variable to tg is
spectively. This shows that thermal sensation is best significant at the 5% level (indicated by * in the tables) in all
correlated to globe temperature, closely followed by air cases except that for t~ + t,.
temperature. It is therefore natural to include either of t, Table 5 presents the variance ratio for all the subjects
or t 8 in the final equation, as both of these are highly cor- for progressive addition of environmental variable. The
related with each other. Therefore further choice is restric- following conclusions are drawn.
ted to the inclusion of either ta or t+ in any correlation with
thermal sensation. 1. Choice between P and t,. It is seen that F values are
The combinations involving two variables at a time in significant for the additions of both variables for about
Table 3 show that combinations of (1,2), (1,4), (1,5), (1,6), 15 subjects, but those for t , are higher than those for P
(2,3), (3,4), (3,5) and (3,6) are significant at the 0.1% level for 11 subjects. This shows a preference for t,~.
for a large number of subjects and R 2 is also high. 2. Choice between V and V t/2. It is seen that F values for
F r o m the combinations of three variables at a time, it is the additions of both variables are significant for about
clear that the combination (2,3,6) (i.e. t,, tg and V1/~)has the 15 subjects but those for V1/2 are seen to be higher in 14
highest R z and is also significant at various levels for the of these. This shows a preference for V 1/2.
maximum number of subjects. 3. Having established the combinations of t g + t , and
With further addition of a fourth variable, the mean R 2 tg+ V 1/2, the addition of V 1/2 to tg+t, has also been
does not appear to be appreciably improved upon that for studied. It is seen that the addition is significant for 12 of
three variables and the number of subjects with a high the subjects. As such the combination of tg+ tw+ V 1/2
level of significance also drops considerably. The mean R 2 has been accepted as being superior to the rest.
for all the nine variables at a time is 71.83 and is not a signi- Incidentally, this finding is also substantiated by the
ficant improvement over RE = 68.7 for three variables, high value of mean R 2 and highest number of subjects
namely tw, tg and V 1]2. with 0.1% level of significance in Table 3. The level of
 Tropical Summer Index 15

Table 3. Number of subjects at various levels of significance for I n o r d e r to c o m b i n e the results into a single e q u a t i o n , t h e
selected combinations of environmental variables m e a n values for all the coefficients h a v e b e e n d e t e r m i n e d
a n d t h e e m e r g i n g final e q u a t i o n is :
Combination Level of significance mean
of variables 0.1% 1% 5% 10% R2
S = 0.067 t w + 0 . 1 6 2 t s - 0 . 4 4 9 V 1/2-1.917. (1)
1 18 - - - 62.6
2 18 - - - 3O.7 This e q u a t i o n expresses the e q u i v a l e n c e o f v a r i o u s
3 18 - - - 62.8 e n v i r o n m e n t a l variables tg, t,, a n d V in their influence o n
4 13 - - - 8.8 t h e r m a l s e n s a t i o n . A n increase o f 0.162/0.067, i.e. 2.4°C in
5 7 1 3 3 7.5 tw has t h e s a m e influence o n t h e r m a l s e n s a t i o n as a n
6 5 3 4 3 7.3
7 8 - - 1 9.8 increase o f I ° C in g l o b e t e m p e r a t u r e . Similarly a d e c r e a s e
8 9 - - 1 14.0 o f 0.449/0.162, i.e. 2.8°C in t s or o f 0.449/0.067, i.e. 6.7°C in
9 18 - - - 55.4 tw is e q u i v a l e n t to a n increase o f 1 (m s - 1)1/2 in t h e s q u a r e
1, 2 12 - 2 - 65.2 r o o t o f air velocity.
1, 4 12 - 2 - 65.2 T h e e q u a t i o n also indicates t h a t 1/0.162, i.e. r o u g h l y
1, 5 10 4 1 - 64.8 6°C c h a n g e in g l o b e t e m p e r a t u r e , o r 1/0.449, i.e. r o u g h l y
1, 6 10 4 - - 65.3 2 (m s - 1)1/2 c h a n g e in s q u a r e r o o t o f air velocity is a p t to
2, 3 12 2 - - 66.8
3, 4 12 2 1 - 66.4 result in a c o r r e s p o n d i n g c h a n g e in t h e t h e r m a l s e n s a t i o n
3, 5 11 3 2 - 65.4 b y u n i t step o n t h e scale o f w a r m t h .
3, 6 13 1 1 - 66.0 T h e a b o v e c o m b i n a t i o n o f e n v i r o n m e n t a l variables h a s
5, 7 18 - - - 43.0 a high m e a n R 2 with t h e r m a l s e n s a t i o n (0.689) w h e r e a s t h e
6, 8 17 1 - - 55.5
best i n d i v i d u a l R 2 for subject N o . 11 is seen to b e 0.80
1, 2, 5 6 2 2 - 67.6 (Table 6), T h e m e a n value o f R t h e r e f o r e t u r n s o u t to b e 0.83
1, 2, 6 6 2 - 2 67.3 for all subjects a n d a r o u n d 0.9 for t h e best i n d i v i d u a l
1, 4, 5 6 2 2 - 67.0
1, 4, 6 7 1 - 1 67.3 subject. T h e s e figures i n d i c a t e very high c o r r e l a t i o n s b u t a
2, 3, 5 8 2 2 - 68.4 c o m p a r i s o n with o t h e r available indices is also n e c e s s a r y
2, 3, 6 9 2 1 1 68.9 b e f o r e a c c e p t i n g this e q u a t i o n for f u r t h e r a p p l i c a t i o n .
3, 4, 5 7 4 1 - 68.1
3, 4, 6 7 3 1 1 68.6
Correlations for all the data simultaneously
2,3,5,7 2 - 2 3 69.2
C o r r e l a t i o n s o f t h e e n v i r o n m e n t a l variables w i t h t h e
2,3,6,8 2 2 2 1 69.7
3, 4, 5, 7 1 2 2 1 68.7 t h e r m a l s e n s a t i o n for all t h e d a t a s i m u l t a n e o u s l y , i n s t e a d
3,4,6,8 1 3 2 1 69.4 o f i n d i v i d u a l c o r r e l a t i o n s , were also tried out. T h e
5, 6, 7, 8 13 - - - 62.0 e q u a t i o n s with t s, t w a n d V 1/2 a n d t,, tw a n d V 1/2 t e r m s were
f o u n d to b e significant at t h e 0.1% level b u t R 2 s h o w e d
m u c h lower values. T h e e q u a t i o n s t h u s f o u n d w e r e :

significance a n d i n d i v i d u a l R 2 o f all t h e 18 subjects are S = 0.042 t w + 0 . 1 6 0 t s - 0 . 1 3 5 V 1/2

p r e s e n t e d in T a b l e 6 for t h e c o m b i n a t i o n o f tw, tg a n d
V1/2. - 2 . 3 2 5 (R 2 = 54.5) (2)

It is seen f r o m T a b l e 5 (last c o l u m n ) t h a t f u r t h e r a d d i t i o n o f and

V1/2t, is significant only for s e v e n subjects. M o r e o v e r , t h e
n u m b e r o f subjects with 0.1% level o f significance for this S = 0.102 t w + 0 . 1 7 6 t a - 0 . 1 2 3 V 1/2
c o m b i n a t i o n is only t w o (Table 3)° H e n c e f u r t h e r a d d i t i o n s - 3 . 2 9 (R2 = 54.6). (3)
o f variables b e y o n d t h r e e is n o t c o n s i d e r e d a p p r o p r i a t e .
I n view o f the l o w e r c o r r e l a t i o n coefficients, these
Final equation e q u a t i o n s , t h o u g h n o t very m u c h at v a r i a n c e in f o r m with
T a b l e 7 p r e s e n t s t h e r e g r e s s i o n coefficients o f t h e t h e o n e selected above, were n o t c o n s i d e r e d a p p r o p r i a t e
e n v i r o n m e n t a l variables t~, tw a n d V x/2 for all t h e subjects. for practical a p p l i c a t i o n .

Table 4. Analysis of variance for subject No. 1. Total sum of squares = 316.52 for
D F = 299

Source of Mean Improvement Variance

S. No. variation RSS DF RSS for each D F ratio

1 t s only 107.88 298 -- --

2 ts+ p 106.34 297 0.358 1.54 4.30*
3 ts+tw 107.18 297 0.361 0.70 1.94
4 ts+ V 97.53 297 0.328 10.35 31.55"
5 t i + V t/2 96.20 297 0.324 11.68 36.04*
6 tsq-tw'l-V 112 94.42 296 0.319 12.76 40.0*
7 ts + t w+ V 112 + Vll2t a 88.13 295 0.299 6.29 21.04

DF, degrees of freedom; RSS, residual sum of squares.

* Significant at the 5% level.
16 M. R. Sharma and Sharafat Ali

Table 6. Level of significance and R 2 for all the individual subjects

for the selected combination of variables

Level of significance R2
(%) (%)
N. K. Gupta 5 70.2
e e ~
R. K. Verma -- 64.1
K. Subramanium 77.0
Rakesh Kumar -- 67.4
V. K. Arora 1 73.3
~ . . . Anil Kumar -- 74.7
Dinesh Kumar 10 76.5
Arun Kumar 0.1 69.3
S. C. Arora 0.1 59.3
.... ~
N. L. Goswami 0.1 61.8
Satendra Kumar 0.1 80.3
V. K. Jindal 0.1 70.8
m~m~b Bikram Singh 0.1 72.7
R. C. Gujral 1 59.4
A. K. Sethi 0.1 71.7
Sunil Kumar Misra 63.8
M. K. Gupta 0.1 68.1
Lakhan Lal 0.1 59.5
. ~
Mean R 2 = 68.9
No. of subjects at 0.1% level of significance 9
I% 2
. ~ 5% 1
10% 1
~ e ~ e e ~

,,-i
0 . ~ o ~ TROPICAL SUMMMER INDEX
The globe temperature term in the equation takes
account of the effect of air temperature and the radiant heat
~ m~m and, to a small extent, of air velocity. The humidity and
air movement are separately taken care of in the com-
fort equation by tw and V 1/2 terms. The equation thus
takes into account all four environmental variables in
0 proportion to their influence on the thermal sensation.
This equation is therefore useful for constructing an index
8 from which it should be possible to express the warmth of

Table 7. Regression coefficients of environmental variables in the

selected equation for all subjects
~ mm
Variables
Subject tw tg V 1/2 Constant

N. K. G u p t a 0.037 0.207 -0.779 -0.457

R. K. V e r m a 0.031 0.185 -0.269 -0.612
K. S u b r a m a n i u m 0.011 0.202 - 0.462 - 1.612
Rakesh Kumar 0.036 0.156 -0.161 -1.099
V. K. A r o r a 0.042 0.166 -0.641 - 1.085
Anil Kumar 0.003 0.179 -0.004 - 1.376
Dinesh Kumar 0.103 0.188 -0.306 -3.260
Arun Kumar 0.073 0.115 -0.473 -0.766
S. C. A r o r a 0.067 0.160 -0.825 - 1.594
N. L. C o s w a m i 0.105 0.151 -0.864 -2.526
Satendra Kumar 0.065 0.141 - 0.400 - 2.759
V. K. J i n d a l 0.081 0.141 -0.621 -2.091
B i k a r a m Singh 0.065 0.165 -0.703 -2.191
R. C. G u j r a l 0.086 0.157 -0.704 - 1.477
A. K. Sethi 0.140 0.143 -0.303 -3.411
+ Sunil Misra 0.086 0.173 -0.162 -3.540
M. K. G u p t a 0.084 0.150 -0.299 -3.123
~++ Lakhan Lal 0.090 0.138 -0.106 - 1.526
~ d ~ d d
++++++ Mean 0.067 0.162 -0.449 - 1.917
 Tropical Summer Index
the environment in terms of one environmental variable,
maintaining the others at predetermined fixed levels. The
present index is termed as the 'Tropical Summer Index'
(TSI). It is defined as the air/globe temperature ofstill air at
50~ RH which produces the same overall thermal
sensation as the environment under investigation.
It may be noted that the above definition of TSI is taken
to include air temperature in place of globe temperature. A
study of correlations of environmental variables shows
that air temperature is also almost equally well correlated
with the thermal sensation as the globe temperature. The
averaged coefficients oft~, tw and V 1/2 terms in an equation
are the following:
S = 0.062 tw+0.183 ta-0.434 V1/2+ ....
These coefficients are seen to be not too much at variance
with those in equation (1), having tw, tg and V 1/2.
It has also been found from observations inside
conventional buildings that the indoor air temperature is
not very different from the indoor globe temperature. This
is mainly because of the large thermal capacity of the
structure and the consequent small rise in the internal
surface temperatures due to the absorbed solar radiation
at the outer surface. The maximum difference has been
found to be of the order of I°C only. As such, the use of the t,
term in place of the t s term wherever measurements of tg are
not available, is not likely to introduce significanterrors in
the final assessment of thermal sensation. The simplifying
assumption is that small departures of tg from t, can be
ignored and air temperature may also be used in place of
globe temperature, if necessary.
Now if 0 is taken to be the value of TSI thermally
equivalent to a given set of environmental conditions
indicated by tw, tg and V 1/2, then
S = 0.067 twt5o)+ 0.162 0 - 1 . 9 1 7
where twt5O}is the corresponding wet-bulb temperature at
50~ RH.
The dry-bulb temperature is related to the wet-bulb
temperature at 50~ RH by the relationship :
twt5o} = 0.827 t~5o)-2.732
and since by definition 0 = t,~5o},we get
S = 0.067 (0.827 0-2.732)+0.162 0 - 1 . 9 1 7
= 0.2174 0-1.917 -0.1830.
Also
S = 0.067 tw+0.162 tg-0.449 V 1/2-1.917.
We may eliminate S from equations (1) and (7). Hence, we
get:
0.2174 0-0.183 = 0.067 tw+0.162 tg-0.449 V 1/2
or
0.067 0.162 0.1830 0.449
_ _ V1/2
O=0.2174tw+o.-~-~tg-~ 0.2174 0.2174
or
0 = 0.308 tw + 0.745 t g - 2.06 V ~/2 + 0.841.
The index as defined above may well be expected to be
suitable as a measure of climate under investigation only
BAE 22:1-B
17
if appropriate levels of the index can be associated with
different thermal sensations.
Comparison of TSI with other indices
The environmentaldata of all the 18 subjects was treated
by a computer programme, convertingit into several other
well known indices, such as Heat Stress Index I-8],Index of
Thermal Stress [9], Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature Index
[10], Equatorial Comfort Index [11], TPV Index, 1-12]
and Tropical Summer Index. Since no mathematical
formula is available for Corrected Effective Temperature
[13], its values were manually determined with the help of
the nomogram.
The following mathematical equations were used for the
(4) computation of the other thermal indices:
1. Heat Stress Index (HSI)
HSI = E/Em. x
where E = 110+11.6 (1+1.3 V 1/2) (tg--35) and E.~,
= 25 V°'4 (42-P).
2. Index of Thermal Stress (ITS)
ITS = 1.163 E(1/f)
where E = 110+ 13 V°'3 (tg--35) and f is the cooling
efficiency of sweating.
3. Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Index (WBGT)
WBGT = 0.7 tw + 0.3 tg.
4. Equatorial Comfort Index (ECI)
ECI = 0.574 ta+0.271 P - 1 . 8 1 V1/2+4.2
5. TPV Index
TPV = 0.186 tg-0.032 P - 0 . 3 6 6 V ~/2-0.82
here P represents water vapour pressure in air.
(5)
Direct correlation coefficients were determined between
the thermal sensation and the various indices of thermal
comfort, including the Tropical Summer Index, for each
subject and the results are presented in Table 8. The
average values of the correlation coefficients are shown at
(6) the bottom of each column.
It is seen from Table 8 that the mean value of direct
correlation coefficient for TSI is 0.819 which is higher than
the mean correlation coefficient for any other index. Direct
correlations were determined with tg and t, and are also
(7)
presented in Table 8. It can be seen that the direct
correlation coefficients with these two environmental
variables are also very high, often even higher than several
(1)
other indices. The lowest mean correlation coefficient is
0.738 for the Corrected Effective Temperature, which has
held the ground for a long time in the absence of a better
alternative.
It is therefore established that TSI is an improvement
over the existing thermal indices and use of the index is
therefore justified in the prevailing hot~lry and warm-
humid conditions in India when radiant flux is not
excessively high and the subjects have sufficient air motion
for any visible perspiration to evaporate off.
(8)
Rapid determination of TSI
A simple and approximate equation for the rapid
determination of TSI values for any combination of
18 M. R. Sharma and Sharafat Ali

Table 8. Direct correlation coefficients between observed thermal sensation and various thermal
indices

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Subject. CET ITS WBGT ECI HSI TPV TSI DB TG

N. K. Gupta 0.700 0.816 0.713 0.784 0.817 0.828 0.808 0.822 0.812
R. K. Verma 0.656 0.813 0.703 0.702 0.811 0.794 0.780 0.740 0.797
K. Subramanium 0.817 0.873 0.817 0.828 0.874 0.868 0.872 0.854 0.875
Rakesh Kumar 0.747 0.823 0.723 0.767 0.825 0.795 0.816 0.823 0.815
Vijai Arora 0.768 0.826 0.787 0.832 0.828 0.823 0.853 0.818 0.829
Anil Kumar 0.789 0.872 0.790 0.818 0.873 0.850 0.856 0.845 0.864
Dinesh Kumar 0.859 0.829 0.849 0.844 0.830 0.790 0.869 0.798 0.824
Arun Kumar 0.655 0.768 0.723 0.799 0.777 0.783 0.832 0.780 0.805
S. C. Arora 0.666 0.714 0.614 0.706 0.718 0.696 0.760 0.689 0.712
N. L. Goswami 0.676 0.712 0.696 0.721 0.715 0.680 0.767 0.672 0.707
Satendra Kumar 0.866 0.840 0.869 0.879 0.848 0.808 0.888 0.836 0.847
V. K. Jindal 0.755 0.803 0.757 0.804 0.809 0.780 0.838 0.787 0.804
Bikaram Singh 0.594 0.839 0.729 0.806 0.842 0.821 0.851 0.824 0.835
R. C. Gujral 0.754 0.669 0.736 0.762 0.674 0.689 0.761 0.752 0.678
A. K. Sethi 0.799 0.790 0.834 0.822 0.791 0.771 0.831 0.838 0.772
Sunil Misra 0.746 0.734 0.782 0.756 0.748 0.749 0.795 0.783 0.759
M. K. Gupta 0.745 0.772 0.806 0.791 0.775 0.786 0.817 0.806 0.776
Lakhan Lal 0.685 0.715 0.722 0.703 0.721 0.715 0.749 0.736 0.724
Mean 0.738 0.789 0.758 0.785 0.793 0.780 0.819 0.789 0.791

DB, Dry-bulb temperature; TG, globe temperature; CET, Effective temperature (corrected); TSI,
Tropical Summer Index; ITS, Index of Thermal Stress; WBGT, Wet-bulb globe temperature; ECI,
Equatorial Comfort Index; HSI, Heat Stress Index; TPV, Temperature, pressure, and velocity.

e n v i r o n m e n t a l variables can be:
TSI = 1/3 t w + 3 / 4 tg--2 V 1/2.
The c o n s t a n t term is t a k e n care of in the process of
a p p r o x i m a t i o n of the coefficients oftg a n d tw terms. F o r the
sake of comparison, the values of TSI calculated from b o t h
the exact a n d the a p p r o x i m a t e equations are s h o w n in
T a b l e 9 for zero wind velocity since the coefficients of air
velocity are n o t very different in the two equations.
It is seen t h a t the values of TSI, b o t h exact a n d
approximate, almost agree for all practical purposes, over
the wide range (24°-40°C) shown above.
Therefore, the TSI can be seen to be very simple for
practical use and does not need either a n o m o g r a m or an
elaborate mathematical equation.
DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
The individual multiple correlation coefficients between
the observed thermal sensation a n d t h a t estimated from
the best equations have been found to be very h i g h - - t h e
m e a n value being of the order of 0.9 a n d the best value for a
single individual being of the order of 0.95. The direct
(9)
correlations between thermal sensations a n d the indi-
vidual e n v i r o n m e n t a l variables also show a high value
for air temperature, globe t e m p e r a t u r e a n d m e a n r a d i a n t
t e m p e r a t u r e and, to a lesser extent, with wet-bulb
temperature. The square of the multiple correlation
coefficient conveys useful information a b o u t the extent of
variance explained by the c o m b i n a t i o n of e n v i r o n m e n t a l
variables selected. In the present case, it is seen that, on
average, 82% of the variance in the thermal sensation is
explained by the variables tg, t w a n d V 1/2 . As a comparison,
it might be of interest to recall t h a t Bedford's I-6] selected
variables a n d the analysis explained only a b o u t 26% of the
total variance in the observed sensations. The low value of
the explained variance in the case of Bedford is perhaps due
to the fact t h a t he assumed all the d a t a to be continuous
a n d of one level. A c o n t i n u o u s regression function fitted to
a discontinuous d a t a does not necessarily pass t h r o u g h all
the g r o u p averages a n d hence only a small percentage of
variance could be explained by this analysis. In the present

Table 9. Comparison of TSI for exact and approximate equations

Globe Temp. Wet-bulb Temp. Exact TSI Approximate TS1

s. No. (°C) (°C) (°C) (°C)

l 40.0 30.0 39.9 40.0

2 36.0 30.0 36.9 37.0
3 36.0 24.0 35.0 35.0
4 32.0 27.0 33.0 33.0
5 30.0 27.0 31.5 31.5
6 30.0 18.0 28.7 28.5
7 26.0 21.0 26.7 26.5
8 24.0 21.0 25.2 25.0
 Tropical Summer Index 19

study, since the data of each subject was analysed On substituting S = 3, 4 and 5, for the thermal
separately, the regression function seems to have fitted the sensations of slightly cool, comfortable and slightly warm
data much better. It may be kept in mind that both Bedford in equation (7), the corresponding values of 0 are obtained
and Webb analysed the sensations of different people and as approximately 23.5°, 28 ° and 32.5°C, respectively.
the observations might have had a random error in any of Therefore, the indication is that the subjects would be
the variables. In the present study, the data relate only to comfortable at 28°C (TSI) and successive thermal
one individual at a time and chances of accuracy are better sensations will change at approximately 4.5°C intervals.
owing to uniformity. However a better alternative of Probit Analysis [14] is
The question arises whether the use of a multiple available for the precise determination of the levels of
equation gives a better estimate of thermal sensation than thermal sensation on the TSI scale.
any single physical variable. This is answered by glancing
through the values of residual variances in which tg shows Frequency distribution of TSI
an improvement over ta and the successive additions of Frequency analysis of TSI values at I°C intervals has
other selected physical variables significantly reduce the been carried out for each thermal sensation, treating all
residual variability of thermal sensation in a large (75%) values as lying at the centre oftheinterval. This is presented
number of subjects. The F tests show the improvement to in Table 10.
be very highly significant as the values of F greater than 8 A glance at Table 10 reveals that the distribution of
are as rare as 0.5% where there is no real relationship frequencies over various TSI values, for each category of
between the dependent and the remaining two inde- thermal sensations has a maximum somewhere near the
pendent variables, tw and V t/2. central value of TSI. The distribution appears to follow a
The derived equation has a great value since it shows the normal distribution curve. Another notable aspect of
equivalence of various environmental parameters in their Table 10 is that many TSI values have frequencies lying
influence on thermal sensation. It tells us that within the under two, three or even more thermal sensations--which
boundaries of the climatic ranges observed, an increase of in practice implies that various subjects on various
about 6°C in the globe temperature will increase the occasions have reported different thermal sensations for
relative warmth sensation by one unit on the warmth scale. the same value of TSI.
On the other hand, a large (15°C) increase in the wet-bulb A distribution of this type is quite usual for a biological
temperature is required to notice any positive effect on the stimulus. When a thermal stimulus is applied to various
warmth sensation by unity. This is to say that lower wet- human subjects at the same intensity level, the response is
bulb temperatures have a cooling effect. quite apt to vary from subject to subject. Different stimuli
From a practical point of view too, the equation has a can then be compared in terms of the magnitudes of
significance and meaning. In order to feel comfortable in a responses they produce on various subjects.
warm environment, the aim ought to be to reduce tg and tw
(i.e. humidity) and increase air motion. The extent to which
each variable should be controlled will, of course, depend
on the climatic conditions, the relative coefficients of
environmental factors and the economics of controlling a Table 10. Frequency distribution of TSI for various thermal
sensations
particular climatic factor. There would be numerous
solutions depending o n circumstances, economy and Thermal sensation
efficiency but the difficulty in the Indian context arises TSI °C TC SC COM SW TW MTW Total
when the same dwelling is sought to be suited to winter
conditions as well, and the object is to derive comfort in 17.5 1 1
18.5 7 5 12
cold environments too. The influence of each variable in 19.5 3 10 13
cold climates and the extent to which each must be 20.5 3 18 1 22
controlled can not be assessed without sufficient relevant 21.5 8 28 2 38
data for the cold environment. 22.5 13 47 18 78
23.5 9 61 41 1 112
24.5 9 74 88 2 173
Thermal sensation and TSI 25.5 1 74 129 8 212
26.5 3 70 197 22 292
For an index to be practical, it is necessary to locate the 27.5 I 89 263 38 5 396
thermal sensation levels on the climatic index scale and to 28.5 73 301 139 7 520
define the size of the unit of the scale. In the present case, the 29.5 31 300 234 17 2 584
size of the unit of the TSI scale is inherent in its very 30.5 14 161 273 44 3 495
definition, being the same as that of the dry-bulb 31.5 8 90 272 160 3 533
32.5 5 63 218 212 3 501
temperature (°C). The necessary relationship between the 33.5 2 36 148 224 2 412
thermal sensation and the TSI is provided by an earlier 34.5 1 22 120 148 4 295
equation as 35.5 3 71 114 14 202
36.5 1 41 50 1 93
S = 0.2174 0 - 1 . 9 1 7 - 0 . 1 8 3 0 37.5 20 45 9 74
38.5 1 4 26 13 44
= 0.2174 0 - 2 . 1 (7) 39.5 4 26 12 42
40.5 6 3 9
or 41.5 1 1 2
Total 58 610 1717 1615 1085 70 5155
0.21740 = S+2.1.
20 M. R. Sharma and Sharafat All

The p r o b l e m reduces to determining the respective TSI
values c o r r e s p o n d i n g to the m a x i m u m frequency of the
various thermal sensation curves as also such TSI values at
which changeover takes place from one t h e r m a l sensation
to the next.
A m e t h o d for the analysis of data connected with
biological stimulus a n d response is provided by ' P r o b i t '
Analysis, applicable for stimuli where the response is
quantal, i.e. all or n o t h i n g (or, for example, occurring or
not occurring).
In the present case, the stimulus is the TSI value a n d the
response is the thermal sensation. In order to m a k e the
response quantal it should be considered u n d e r two
categories, n a m e l y ' p r e s e n c e of the response' o r ' a b s e n c e of
the response'. F o r instance we say there is presence of
discomfort due to cold w h e n the subjects vote for thermal
sensations 2 (too cool) a n d 3 (slightly cool) a n d there is
absence of discomfort due to cold w h e n they vote for
thermal sensations 4 (comfortable), 5 (slightly warm), 6
(too warm) a n d 7 (much too warm). Similarly there is
absence of discomfort due to w a r m t h when the subjects
vote 2, 3 a n d 4 a n d presence of discomfort due to w a r m t h
when they vote 5, 6 a n d 7. This m e a n s t h a t for any level of
TSI (the stimulus), if we add the frequency of occasions
occurring u n d e r t h e r m a l sensations 2 a n d 3 a n d those
occurring u n d e r sensations 4, 5, 6 a n d 7, these two figures
indicate the occasions when there was 'presence of
discomfort due to cold' a n d 'absence of discomfort due to
cold'. If we convert these frequencies into percentages, we
k n o w for the total occurrence of a particular TSI value,
what percentage of votes indicates discomfort due to cold
a n d w h a t percentage absence of it. T h e a r g u m e n t can be
extended a little further for the presence a n d absence of a
response up to each level of t h e r m a l sensation a n d beyond.
This provides a convenient m e t h o d of s m o o t h i n g the
n o r m a l frequency distribution curves of T a b l e 10.

Table 11. Observed and computed frequencies of occurrence of TSI levels for combined
thermal sensations together with their corresponding probit values

6+7 5+6+7
TSI °C A B C D E A B C D E

23.5 1 8.9 2.63 2.41 0.5

24.5 2 1.2 2.74 2.81 1.4
25.5 8 3.8 3.23 3.22 3.7
26.5 22 7.5 3.56 3.62 8.4
27.5 5 1.3 2.77 2.94 2.0 43 10.9 3.77 4.03 16.7
28.5 7 1.3 2.77 3.26 4.1 146 28.1 4.42 4.43 28.5
29.5 19 3.3 3.16 3.58 7.8 253 43.1 4.83 4.84 43.7
30.5 47 9.4 3.68 3.90 13.7 320 64.6 5.37 5.24 49.5
31.5 163 30.6 4.49 4.21 21.5 435 81.6 5.90 5.65 74.3
32.5 215 42.9 4.80 4.53 32.0 433 86.4 6.10 6.05 85.4
33.5 226 54.9 5.12 4.85 44.1 374 90.8 6.33 6.46 92.8
34.5 152 51.5 5.04 5.17 56.8 272 92.2 6.42 6.86 96.9
35.5 128 63.4 5.34 5.49 68.8 199 98.5 7.17 7.26 98.8
36.5 51 54.8 5.12 5.81 79.2 92 98.9 7.29 7.67 99.6
37.5 54 73.0 5.61 6.13 87.1 74 100 8.72 8.07 99.9
38.5 39 88.6 6.21 6.45 92.7 43 100 8.72 8.48 100
39.5 38 90.5 6.31 6.77 96.2 42 100 8.72 8.88 100.
40.5 9 100 8.72 7.09 98.1 9 100 8.72 9.29 100
41.5 2 100 8.72 7.41 99.2 2 100 8.72
4+5+6+7 3+4+5+6+7
TSI °C A B C D E A B C D E

18.5 5 41.7 4.79 4.87 45.0

19.5 10 76.9 5.74 5.21 58.3
20.5 1 5.0 3.30 3.69 9.5 19 81.0 6.10 5.54 70.7
21.5 2 5.3 3.8 4.00 16.0 30 79.0 5.81 5.88 81.0
22.5 18 23.1 4.26 4.31 24.6 65 83.3 5.97 6.22 88.8
23.5 42 37.5 4.68 4.63 35.4 103 92.0 6.41 6.55 94.0
24.5 90 52.0 5.05 4.94 48.0 164 94.8 6.63 6.89 97.0
25.5 137 64.6 5.37 5.25 60.0 211 99.5 7.58 7.22 98.5
26.5 219 75.0 5.67 5.57 71.6 289 98.9 7.29 7.56 99.4
27.5 306 77.3 5.75 5.88 81.0 395 99.7 7.75 7.89 99.8
28.5 447 86.0 6.08 6.19 88.3 520 100 8.72 8.23 99.9
29.5 553 94.7 6.62 6.50 93.4 584 100 8.72 8.57 100
30.5 481 97.2 6.91 6.82 96.5
31.5 525 98.5 7.17 7.13 98.3
32.5 496 99.0 7.33 7.44 99.2
33.5 410 99.5 7.58 7.76 99.7
34.5 294 99.7 7.75 8.07 99.9
35.5 202 100 8.72 8.38 100
36.5 93 100 8.72 8.69 100
37.5 74 100 8.72 9.01 100

A, frequency; B, percentage frequency; C, observed probits; D, computed

probits ; E, computed percentages.
 Tropical Summer Index 21

The frequencies of occurrence of each TSI value for each
of the thermal sensations shown in Table 10 are added
together for various combinations of thermal sensations :
(i) 6 + 7, (ii) 5 + 6 + 7, (iii) 4 + 5 + 6 + 7, (iv) 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7,
and (v) 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7. These are presented in column
A of each of the above categories in Table 11. Since the
purpose is to study the response due to various TSI levels,
the relative incidence of individual TSI levels in each
category is determined as a percentage of the total
incidence of that TSI value in all the categories (column B).
This means that corresponding to every TSI value, 100~
will be under the column 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 and the
proportion will go on decreasing as we move from right to
left along the same value of TSI in column B. The
percentages under column B in each category represent a
sigmoid curve that needs to be smoothened by use of
probits.
The percentages are then converted into probits
(column C). Regression lines are drawn between these
probits and the corresponding TSI values. The probits
calculated from the regression lines are shown in column
D. These probits are then converted back into percentages
(column E). The differences between the actual percentages
and those obtained from the smoothened sigmoid curves
can be seen in columns B and E for each category in Table
11.
Sigmoid curves are then drawn between the computed
percentages (ordinate) and the corresponding TSI values
(abscissa) for various combinations of thermal sensations.
These are shown in Fig. 3.
These sigmoid curves present an interesting picture of
the whole exercise. A vertical line drawn, say, at the 29°C
TSI value (also shown in Fig. 3) intersects these sigmoid
curves and makes four intercepts. The total length of the
line represents 100~o of votes obtained at the 29°C TSI
value. Out of the total, the lowest intercept representing 6%
is the percentage ofvotes for thermal sensations'too warm'
and 'much too warm'. The next intercept representing 30.5
votes represents those for thermal sensation 'slightly
warm'. Similarly the next intercept shows 53.5~ of the
votes for thermal sensation 'comfortable'. Hence the
regions lying between the sigmoid curves represent
'slightly coor, 'comfortable' and 'slightly warm' percentage
of votes at each TSI value. The intersections of a horizontal
line at 50~ cumulative frequency level with various
sigmoid curves denote the changeover TSI value from one
thermal sensation to the other.
It can be readily seen from Fig. 3 that the maximum
percentage of votes for the 'comfortable' thermal sensation
occurs at a TSI value of 27.5°C. The changeover TSI value
from'slightly cool' to 'comfortable'is seen to be 24.7°C, the
changeover TSI value from comfortable to slightly warm

1 O0

95

9C

8!

80

75

70

85

t
80

~ ss
~- 5 0

35

3O
/:il II
I I I

20

lS

10
•/." ,%,~," ./
5 //,(////
/,1 /,2 /,3 ,U,
TROPICAL SUMMER INDEX =C

Fig. 3. Percentage assessments greater than four different levels of thermal sensation as a function of TSI.
22 M. R. Sharma and Sharafat Ali

conditions is 30°C. Similarly changeover TSI value from Table 12. Percentage frequencies of TSI values for
'too cool' to 'slightly cool' is 19°C and that from 'slightly the three central thermal sensations
warm' to 'too warm' is 33.9°C.
Thermal sensation
If the percentages of column E of category 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 TSI °C 3 4 5
in Table 11 are subtracted from similar percentages of
category 5 + 6 + 7, the remainders represent the percentage 18.5 45.0
assessment for thermal sensation 'comfortable' at every 19.5 54.5
20.5 61.2 9.5
TSI value. Similarly percentage assessment for thermal
21.5 65.0 16.0
sensations 'slightly warm' and 'slightly cool' can also be 22.5 64.2 24.0
obtained. These percentages are presented in Table 12 and 23.5 58.6 35.0 0.5
are also shown by respective curves in Fig. 4. The observed 24.5 49.0 46.6 1.4
percentages of comfortable assessments are also plotted in 25.5 38.5 56.3 3.7
26.5 27.8 63.2 8.4
Fig. 4 for verification. 27.5 18.8 64.3 14.7
F r o m the graphs in Figs 3 and 4 the optimum values and 28.5 11.6 59.8 24.4
the ranges of TSI values for the three thermal sensations 29.5 6.6 49.7 35.9
for practical application can be read as those shown in 30.5 3.5 37.0 45.8
31.5 1.7 24.0 52.8
Table 13. 32.5 0.8 13.8 53.4
It is seen from Fig. 4 that around 65% of all the thermal 33.5 0.7 6.9 48.7
assessments recorded at a TSI value of 27.5°C lie under the 34.5 3.0 40.1
comfortable category which is also the optimum TSI value 35.5 1.2 30.0
for thermal comfort. Similarly, it can also be calculated 36.5 0.4 20.4
37.5 12.8
from Table 10 that nearly 80% of all the 'comfortable' 38.5 7.3
thermal assessments lie within the range 25-30°C TSI. 39.5 3.8
In Fig. 3, the intercept of the ordinate at every TSI value 40.5 1.8
lying between the sigmoid curves 5 + 6 + 7 and 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 41.5 0.8
represents the percentage of 'comfortable' votes. The
ordinate below the 5 + 6 + 7 curve represents the per-
centage incidence of discomfort due to warmth at the
given TSI value. Similarly, the portion of the ordinate warmth as also jointly for both causes is presented in Table
above the 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 curve represents the percentage 14. It is seen that the total incidence of discomfort is
incidence of discomfort due to cold at the given TSI level. minimum between 27 ° and 28°C and that two out of three
The percentage incidence of discomfort due to cold or assessments are likely to be comfortable at this level of TSI.

70 I IIII
I/co°<S<'°NT" ° . • OBSERVED VALUE1 _
8s ~-- --

.o , ~
\ /•

5S / SLIGHTLY

i I

2s
, \ \
o. 20

10 19°C VP' I 21'S°C

optimum sl
i'7*C t30.°C 3
oDtirnurn '
3-90C \
5~ -- c°~°ll - ~htly
o -
1• 19 20 21 22 13 24 25 26 27 2B 29 30 31 32 33 3/, 35 36 37 38 39 40 /.1 42
TROPICAL SUMMER INDEX aC
Fig. 4. Percentage assessments for three levels of thermal sensations as functions of TSI.
 Tropical Summer lndex 23

Table 13. Ranges and optimum valuesof TSl for the middle three presentation, the lines of equal TSI are drawn on the
thermal sensations psychrometric chart for different combinations of dry-
bulb and wet-bulb temperatures (Fig. 5). For this
Range Optimum value
Thermal sensation (°C) (°C) presentation, the globe temperature is assumed to be
synonymous with the dry-bulb temperature. The
1. Slightly cool 19.0-25.0 22.0 reduction in TSI values for some selected wind speeds
2. Comfortable 25.0-30.0 27.5 (Table 15) is also shown as an inset in the diagram. The
3. Slightly warm 30.0-34.0 32.0
percentage of 'comfortable' votes at various TSI values
between 20° and 35°C is also shown by a curve in the figure.
The region between 25° and 30°C TSI values is actually the
comfort region but the 'comfortable' region in this chart is
Diagrammatic representation of TSI shown by a hatched area only between 30~ and 70~ RH
For practical use, it is preferable to present the TSI in curves since extreme RH values may not be very desirable
the form of a diagram or a nomogram. Although the for other reasons, and ought to be avoided. It may be noted
mathematical equation for this index is too simple to need in Fig. 5 that TSI lines agree with the respective dry-bulb
any such presentation, for the sake of diagrammatic temperatures along the 50% RH curve.

TROPICAL SUMMER INDEX

>.
n¢

U.
O

E
E

2 I
~J
n*
=)
~n
(n
I.t

0.

0
Q.

10 15 20 2S 30 35 ~o
DRY BULB TEMPERATURE, *C
Fig. 5. Tropical summer index lines and comfort zone.
24 M . R . S h a r m a and S h a r a f a t Ali

Table 14. Percentage incidence of discomfort at various levels of Table 15. Reduction in TSI values due to air
TSI motion

TSI °C Due to cold Due to warmth Due to both Wind speed Reduction in TSI
S. No. (m s- 1) (°C)
20 93 -- 93
21 88 -- 88 1 0.5 1.4
22 80 -- 80 2 1.0 2.0
23 71 -- 71 3 1.5 2.5
24 59 1 60 4 2.0 2.8
25 47 3 50 5 2.5 3.2
26 35 6 41
27 24 12 36
28 16 23 39
29 10 36 46
30 5 50 55 conditions in buildings. Except for some observations
31 2 67 69 u n d e r the ' m u c h too w a r m ' category, where the individuals
32 I 80 81
willingly chose to subject themselves to extreme thermal
33 88 88
34 -- 95 95 conditions, mainly by n o t employing air m o v e m e n t at high
35 98 98 air temperatures, in most cases the subjects did n o t
36 99 99 experience perceptible perispiration because of a b u n -
37 -- 100 100 d a n t air m o v e m e n t indoors or agreeable e n v i r o n m e n t a l
conditions outdoors.

Acknowledgements The author wishes to record his deep sense

CONCLUDING REMARKS
T h e tropical s u m m e r index, expressed by a simple
mathematical equation, can be used by architects and other
designers whose interest is centred a r o u n d the comfort
of gratitude to Messrs C. G. Webb, M. A. Humphreys and J. F.
Nicol formerly of the Building Research Establishment, London
for their invaluable help during the author's stay at the
Establishment. The paper is part of the programme of research
work at the Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee and is
published with the permission of the Director.

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