The relationship between inside and outside ambient temperatures in Christchurch, New Zealand

Citation
Pj. Schluter et al., The relationship between inside and outside ambient temperatures in Christchurch, New Zealand, PAED PERIN, 14(3), 2000, pp. 275-282
Citations number
27
Categorie Soggetti
Pediatrics
Journal title
PAEDIATRIC AND PERINATAL EPIDEMIOLOGY
ISSN journal
02695022 → ACNP
Volume
14
Issue
3
Year of publication
2000
Pages
275 - 282
Database
ISI
SICI code
0269-5022(200007)14:3<275:TRBIAO>2.0.ZU;2-I
Abstract
The objective of this study was to examine and identify relationships betwe en hourly recorded meteorological temperature and ambient temperature, meas ured from within the home-sleeping environment of young infants' homes in C hristchurch, New Zealand. From 1991 to 1994, home polysomnography recording s were conducted for up to 6 weeks on 32 infants aged between 2 and 24 week s. One of the recorded signals was ambient room temperature. In total, 1573 5 hourly recordings of this temperature were available for analysis. The Ne w Zealand Meteorological Service supplied hourly recordings of climatic tem perature, collected over this time, from an exposed site that was considere d to be representative of weather conditions for Christchurch. Temperature seasonality, hourly climatic temperature recordings and the interaction of these variables were found to be significantly related to the indoor ambien t temperature recordings (all had P < 0.001). Fluctuations in hourly record ed indoor temperature appeared to lag outdoor temperature fluctuations by a pproximately 2 h; hence, a strong autocorrelation was identified in the reg ression residuals. The most parsimonious autoregression model accounted for 97% of the variability in the hourly indoor temperature measurements (r(2) = 0.97). In Christchurch houses, which typically have poor thermal insulat ion properties, yet have no central heating capabilities, a very strong ass ociation between indoor and outdoor temperatures was clearly demonstrated.