Temperature, solar radiation, wind—parameters to predict a vehicle’s cabin air temperature

Parked vehicles can quickly become a life-threatening environment for unattended children or dogs during the summer months. Dangerous cabin temperatures can be reached after just 30 minutes. Researchers at Vetmeduni Vienna not only calculated the temperature rise but also developed a dynamic model that requires only three readily available parameters to predict this increase: outdoor air temperature, wind velocity and solar radiation. All three values are available on an hourly basis from standard meteorological stations. This makes the model ideal as the basis for warning indications in modern vehicles, as an app and as a forensic tool in hyperthermia deaths.