title: Heat transfer through penguin feathers
abstract: Morphological measurements of penguin feathers are used to construct a thermal model of heat transfer through the coat. Assuming uniform distribution of the feathers and their associated afterfeathers, it is possible to model heat transfer through the coat of the penguin using standard theory. It is shown that convection does not occur in the coat of the penguin and that radiative heat loss is minimized. The theory predicts a thermal conductivity of 2.38 W m(-2)K(-1)which compares well with an empirically measured value of 1.93 W m(-2)K(-1). Copyright 1999 Academic Press.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Biomimetics, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AT, U.K.
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Vincent
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jeronimidis
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Forshaw