When we hear of climate reanalysis, we often think of consistent and comprehensive gridded time series of atmospheric variables, such as air temperature. In recent years, with the occurrence of extreme heat events claiming thousands of lives, experts in climatology, meteorology and human physiology have teamed up to model the detrimental effects of the environment on the human body and summarise them via appropriate biometeorological indices. These indexes have historically been calculated from observations collected at local weather stations with the advantages and disadvantages this entails. In 2020 ERA5-HEAT was released as the first global reanalysis dataset of biometeorological indices representing human thermal (dis)comfort, i.e. the stress our body endures when exposed to atmospheric conditions, specifically air temperature, humidity, ventilation, and radiation. In my talk I will first present on ERA5-HEAT, its characteristics and computation. I will then showcase its latest applications in the field of human health.

 

 

Claudia Di Napoli is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Reading, UK. Her research interests lie on human biometeorology, i.e. on understanding how weather extremes and climate change impact human well-being. Building from the cross-disciplinary expertise she developed both in academic and operational environments, her research has recently focused on assessing past and future trends of weather-related health hazards, namely heatwaves. You can follow Claudia’s latest research on Twitter: @DrClaudiaDN

Meeting ID: 950 3264 7837 

Passcode: 566640