title: Indian summer heat wave of 2015: a biometeorological analysis using half hourly automatic weather station data with special reference to Andhra Pradesh.
abstract: Heat wave is a hazardous weather-related extreme event that affects living beings. The 2015 summer heat wave affected many regions in India and caused the death of 2248 people across the country. An attempt has been made to quantify the intensity and duration of heat wave that resulted in high mortality across the country. Half hourly Physiologically Equivalent Temperature (PET), based on a complete heat budget of human body, was estimated using automatic weather station (AWS) data of four locations in Andhra Pradesh state, where the maximum number of deaths was reported. The heat wave characterization using PET revealed that extreme heat load conditions (PET >41) existed in all the four locations throughout May during 2012-2015, with varying intensity. The intensity and duration of heat waves characterized by "area under the curve" method showed good results for Srikakulam and Undi locations. Variations in PET during each half an hour were estimated. Such studies will help in fixing thresholds for defining heat waves, designing early warning systems, etc.
authors.affiliation: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Santoshnagar, Hyderabad, 500059, India. sarath@crida.in.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Sarath Chandran
authors.affiliation: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Santoshnagar, Hyderabad, 500059, India.
authors.forename: A V M
authors.initials: AVM
authors.lastname: Subba Rao
authors.affiliation: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Santoshnagar, Hyderabad, 500059, India.
authors.forename: V M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Sandeep
authors.affiliation: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Santoshnagar, Hyderabad, 500059, India.
authors.forename: V P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Pramod
authors.affiliation: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Santoshnagar, Hyderabad, 500059, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pani
authors.affiliation: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Santoshnagar, Hyderabad, 500059, India.
authors.forename: V U M
authors.initials: VUM
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Santoshnagar, Hyderabad, 500059, India.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Visha Kumari
authors.affiliation: ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Santoshnagar, Hyderabad, 500059, India.
authors.forename: Ch
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Srinivasa Rao
mesh_terms: D055874:Extreme Heat / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D009026:Mortality; D012621:Seasons; D013697:Thermosensing
keywords: AWS; Death rate; Duration; Heat wave; Intensity; PET