Observations of the Effects of Solar Radiation on the Thermal Environment inside Tents in Antarctica

• Published in: The Annals of Occupational Hygiene
• Main Authors: Pugh, L. G. C. E., Chrenko, F. A.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 1962
• Subjects: Articles; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://annhyg.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/5/1/1; https://doi.org/10.1093/annhyg/5.1.1

Observations of clothing and skin temperature showed that in Antarctica at the height of summer, the solar heat gained by a man in the open air was at least double the heat gain in the desert. Measurements of air temperature and thermal radiation inside two tents showed that the sun also warmed a man inside a tent. One tent was single-walled and made from yellow material; the other was double walled and made from black material. Although air temperatures were similar in both tents, solar radiation transmitted by the yellow tent made it very much warmer and more comfortable than the black tent.