Use of the UTCI in the Czech Republic

The new Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was designed for use in the human bioclimatology and biometeorology field. This article describes a set of basic tests used to test the UTCI. These tests were made using real data from selected meteorological stations in the Czech Republic. Days with extreme temperatures and days with extremely windy conditions (extratropical cyclone known as ‘hurricane Kyrill’, January 18-19, 2007) were selected for the UTCI testing. The Universal Thermal Climate Index is different from other, more commonly used indices. A complete set of meteorological and radiation factors: air temperature, humidity, wind speed and mean radiation temperature were used using when testing the UTCI. Other indices were calculated using limited numbers of the following factors: air temperature and humidity (Heat Index), air temperature and wind speed (Wind Chill), and also air temperature, humidity and wind speed (NET). Testing of the UTCI was necessary before the possible application of this index in the national weather service of the Czech Republic (CHMI).