Approximating the universal thermal climate index using sparse regression with orthogonal polynomials
arXiv:2508.11307v3 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) is a measure of thermal comfort that quantifies how humans experience environmental conditions. Due to its robustness and versatility as a bioclimatic indicator, it has been extensively employed across a wide range of studies in bioclimatology and is increasingly used as an operational measure of outdoor thermal comfort. Calculating the UTCI value from the relevant environmental parameters is nominally not straightforward, which is why using a 6th-degree polynomial approximation has become the
This academic paper describes a computational method and is a standard output of research. The publication date reflects the standard pace of academic work.
For a sophisticated reader, this paper represents an incremental academic development with no immediate strategic implications.
Nothing immediately changes; this is a refinement of existing methodologies for calculating a specific index.
Further academic research may build upon this approximation method to make climate comfort calculations slightly more efficient.
There is a remote possibility that improvements in UTCI calculation could marginally enhance the precision of some climate models over a very long timeframe.
No discernible third-order consequences are evident from this specific academic development.
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