Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37

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Journal of Thermal Biology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jtherbio

A review and quantitative assessment of cattle-related thermal indices T

a,b c d e a,⁎
Xiaoshuai Wang , Bjarne Schmidt Bjerg , Christopher Y. Choi , Chao Zong , Guoqiang Zhang
a
Department of Engineering, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, P.O. Box 50, 8830 Tjele, Denmark
b
College of Biosystems Engineering and Food Science, Zhejiang University, No. 866 Yuhangtang Road, 310058, Hangzhou, China
c
Department of Large Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Grønnegårdsvej 2, 1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
d
Department of Biological Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 460H Mall, Madison 53706, WI, United States
e
College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Many thermal indices have been developed to assess the levels of heat stress imposed on cattle during hot
Cattle weather. In this paper, the 16 cattle-related thermal indices are critically reviewed. The primary emphasis is to
Heat stress evaluate each index's coherence to the typical heat transfer characteristics of a cow. Other perspectives including
Thermal index incorporated environmental parameters in the equation(s), experimental data, correlated physiological re-
Heat transfer mechanism
sponses, heat-stress thresholds, scope of application, specific cattle breed involved, and experiment location(s)
Equivalent temperature
are also well categorised and discussed. The coherence evaluation indicates that the main effects of environ-
Review
mental parameters on heat stress have been properly reflected, while some interactions between the parameters
have been treated differently. Given the variety of the equations used to define the 16 indices and the wide range
of information used to develop each index, we conclude that each thermal index is distinct to an extent that it
should be selected and employed carefully.

Greek letters TI Thermal index

εbg Emissivity of the black-globe, equals to 1 1. Introduction

σ The Stefan-Boltzmann constant, equals to 5.67 × 10−8
Heat stress is an aggregate of two sets of factors: 1) animal's meta-
bolization and physical activities that generate heat load, and 2) spe-
cific environmental factors (e.g., air temperature, relative humidity,
wind speed, and solar radiation) that affect the dissipation of the heat
Acronyms (Mader et al., 2006). As a constantly troubling issue in the tropics,
subtropics, and temperate regions during summertime (Hill and Wall,
BGHI Black global temperature humidity index 2014), heat stress occurs when an animal has troubles in getting rid of
CCI Comprehensive climate index its surplus body heat and maintaining a constant body temperature.
ERHL Effective radiation heat load Heat stress adversely affects dairy producers both economically and
ESI Environmental Stress Index ethically by reducing milk production and fertility rates and by im-
ET Effective temperature pairing animal welfare (de Andrade Ferrazza et al., 2017), and it has
ETI Equivalent temperature index traditionally incurred tremendous economic losses ($2 billion annually
HLI Heat load index in the US) to the livestock industry (St-Pierre et al., 2003). In recent
ITSC Index of thermal stress for cow years, the problems associated with heat stress often exacerbate as the
Nu Nusselt number density of the animals increases, particularly in large-scale indoor dairy
Re Reynolds number operations.
RRI Respiration rate index The effect of heat stress on cattle has been intensively studied for
Sh Sherwood number several decades because of its importance to the success of cattle hus-
THI Temperature humidity index bandry. Due to the increasing concerns about climate change and

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: guoqiang.zhang@eng.au.dk (G. Zhang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2018.08.005
Received 5 March 2018; Received in revised form 4 August 2018; Accepted 7 August 2018
Available online 09 August 2018
0306-4565/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
X. Wang et al. Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37

Nomenclatures sr Solar Radiation, W m-2

Sp Solar irradiance obtained directly by means of a pyr-
DSRadj Direct solar radiation correction factor, °C anometer, W m-2
SRadj Surface temperature correction factor, °C RADadj Radiation correction factor, °C
hbg the convective heat transfer coefficient of the black-globe, Ta Air temperature, °C
W m-2 °C-1 Tbg Black-globe temperature, °C
Hc Rate of convective heat dissipation, W Tdp Dew point temperature, °C
Hcd Rate of conductive heat dissipation, W Tequ Equivalent air temperature change, °C
Hsk Rate of heat dissipation by sweating, W Tgs Ground surface temperature, °C
Hr Rate of heat dissipation by respiration, W Trm Mean radiant temperature of the environment, K
Hrad Rate of radiative heat flow, W Ts-ave The average afternoon hair coat surface temperature, °C
Hs Rate of heat stored in animal body, W Tsk Skin temperature of cow, °C
M Metabolic heat generation rate, W Twb Wet bulb temperature, °C
Pva Air partial vapour pressure, kPa v Air velocity, m s-1
RHadj Relative humidity correction factor, °C Vadj Air velocity correction factor, °C
rh Relative humidity, %

wellbeing of animal, as well as the increasing scale of today's farming
operations, more and more researchers and farmers have expressed
interest in heat stress abatement approaches. Currently, cooling heat-
stressed animals is one of the most commonly applied approaches
(West, 2003). To properly implement a cooling strategy involves first
making a fast and accurate evaluation of the heat stress imposed on the
animals. To quantitatively assess the heat stress imposed on cattle,
many cattle-related thermal indices have been developed, and all have
proved able to acceptably assess the heat stress levels. However, dif-
ferences in breed, modelling methods, and investigation emphases (not
to mention climate type and other factors) will often result in differing
results, depending on which particular index is applied. Accordingly, it
is reasonable to conclude that a thermal index may produce significant
inaccuracies if it is applied without considering its specific assumptions,
the type of thermal environment it typically assesses and the methods
that were used to derive the index. To avoid potential misapplication of
a thermal index, a comprehensive understanding of all the indices is
essential. Most certainly, any effort to achieve such an understanding
could be facilitated by a comprehensive review of the existing cattle-
related thermal indices and the crucial information relating to index
development. Our survey of the literature associated with heat-stress
evaluation uncovered no such review; therefore, we have reviewed
sixteen thermal indices that were judged worthy of consideration.
In this review, we first provide a brief description of the heat ex-
change process that occurs between a dairy cow and its environment.
Then we present systematic reviews of the sixteen cattle-related
thermal indices, including the information related to the development
of each index and its relevance to the heat transfer characteristics of the
breed being analyzed. Finally, in a summary, we explain why we be-
lieve that new cattle-related thermal indices should be developed.
2. Heat balance of cattle
Cattle dissipate heat by means of conduction, convection, radiation,
and evaporation (Maia and Loureiro, 2005). Fig. 1 illustrated the heat
balance between a housed standing dairy cow and the ambient en-
vironment.
According to the heat transfer mechanism, the heat balance of a cow
can be expressed as Eq. (1) (Baeta et al., 1987; da Silva et al., 2015):
M = Hcd + Hc + Hrad + Hr + Hsk + Hs (1)
where, M represents metabolic heat generation rate (W); Hcd, Hc, Hrad
represents the heat dissipation via conduction, convection and radia-
tion, respectively (W); Hr and Hsk represents the evaporative heat dis-
sipation form respiration and skin, respectively (W); Hs represents the
heat storage in animal body (W).
Note that a negative value of Hcd, Hc, or Hrad means the animal is
gaining heat from the ambient environment via the specific transport
mechanism. A positive value of Hs means that extra heat is accumu-
lating in the animal's body and will lead to changes in physiological
responses, such as an increase in respiration rate and sweating rate.
3. Evaluation method used in this work
3.1. Definition of equivalent air temperature change
To evaluate the performance of each thermal index in assessing
thermal effects of environmental parameters, we used a measure, re-
ferred to as equivalent air temperature change (Tequ), which was de-
fined as a change in air temperature (e.g., from Ta1 to Ta2) such that the
variation of thermal index caused by a change in another

Fig. 1. Illustration of the mechanisms related to the heat exchange of a housed cow.

25
X. Wang et al.
environmental parameter (e.g., relative humidity from rh1 to rh2, air
velocity from v1 to v2, or solar radiation from sr1 to sr2, at air tem-
perature of Ta1) is equal to a variation of the same thermal index caused
by the change in air temperature (from Ta1 to Ta2) but keeping the other
environmental parameters unchanged. Eqs. (2) and (3) were listed to
further explain the calculations of equivalent air temperature change
(Tequ).
TITa1, rh2, v1, sr 1 = TITa2, rh1 v1, sr 1 (for a change from rh1 to rh2)
TITa1, rh1, v 2, sr 1 = TITa2, rh1, v1, sr 1 (for a change from v1 to v2)
TITa1, = TITa2, (for a change from sr1 to sr2)
rh1, v1, sr 2 rh1, v1, sr 1
Tequ = Ta1 − Ta2
where TITa1, rh2, v1, rad1 represents the value of a thermal index when the
air temperature is Ta1, relative humidity is rh2, air velocity is v1 and
solar radiation is sr1.
A positive value of Tequ indicates that the thermal effect associated
with a variation in the investigated parameter of the corresponding
thermal index was treated as a heating effect on heat stress, whereas a
negative value indicates a chilling effect. Additionally, a larger absolute
value of Tequ implies a stronger chilling/heating effect in the corre-
sponding index.
3.2. Spans of environmental parameters in the evaluation
In our evaluations, four levels of air temperature, 25, 30, 35 and
40 oC, were selected because cattle normally experience heat stress in
this range (West, 2003). Three levels of relative humidity were used,
which are determined according to the respective application range of
relative humidity. The evaluation aims to include all climate regions of
the world where heat stress among cattle may be a significant issue, and
to respect the validity of the index concerned, including whether it is
meant for indoor cattle, outdoor cattle or both.
For the sake of consistency, all the air-velocity increments used in
each evaluation were assumed to increase from 1 to 2 m s-1, and all the
solar radiation increments were assumed to increase from 400 to
500 W m-2. The change from 1 to 2 m s-1 and from 400 to 500 W m-2 are
both chosen to represent an increase in the middle of the range for these
parameters in indices where they are included.
4. Cattle-related thermal indices
The index reviews in this section are presented in chronological
order in which these indices were first developed. Each sub-section
reviews one index (or in some cases several similar thermal indices),
beginning with an overview of the respective thermal index/indices and
ending with an assessment of the index's coherence to the heat transfer
characteristics of cattle and the environment. A summary of the as-
sessments on all the reviewed thermal indices is provided in the final
sub-section.
4.1. Temperature humidity index
4.1.1. Overview
The temperature-humidity index (THI) was developed as a means of
quantifying the level of discomfort experienced by a human during the
summer season. It was therefore originally referred to as “discomfort
index” by Thom (1959) after concluding that the evaluation of heat
stress using air temperature alone would tend to fail as a measure of
discomfort. Bianca (1962) and Berry et al. (1964) extended this concept
to estimate heat stress imposed on cattle.
The THI is one of the most widely used thermal indices (Mader
et al., 2006) because 1) it is simple to apply, as both involved compo-
nents (air temperature and humidity) are easy to measure; 2) the THI
can predict the thermal environment accurately and quickly in many
Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37
cases because domestic animals are mostly confined in barns where air
movement is low and solar radiation is effectively blocked (Li et al.,
2009).
Four different formulae for calculating the THI are usually be ap-
plied to evaluate the heat stress level imposed on cattle, as expressed in
Eqs. (4)–(7). Note that, the “Ta × 1.8 + 32” is a term that converts air
temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit. The reason for doing the
conversion is that most previous such indices were calculated using the
Fahrenheit scale (Bernabucci et al., 2014).
THI 1 = (0.35×Ta+0.65 ×Twb) × 1.8 + 32 (4)
(2)
THI 2 = (1.8×Ta + 32)−[(0.55 − 0.0055×rh) × (1.8×Ta − 26)] (5)
(3)
THI 3 = (0.55×Ta+0.2 ×Tdp)×1.8 + 32 + 17.5 = Ta+0.36 ×Tdp + 49.5
(6)
THI 4 = Ta+0.36 ×Tdp + 41.5 (7)
where, Tdb, Tdp, Twb are ambient dry bulb temperature, dew point
temperature and wet bulb temperature, respectively (°C); rh is relative
humidity (%).
In a study by Bianca (1962), aimed at developing THI1, the re-
spective weighting of air temperature and humidity (in the forms of dry
bulb and wet bulb temperature, respectively) in terms of their influence
in causing heat stress was evaluated. Four 9-month-old Ayrshire bull
calves were confined in a climatic room and exposed to nine different
environmental conditions. Nine tests with different air temperature
(from 30 to 50 °C) or/and dew point temperature (from 8.3 to 30.6 °C)
were conducted. The rectal temperatures were measured as physiolo-
gical heat stress indicator. Bianca (1962) found that the regression
coefficients of 0.35 and 0.65 for dry-bulb and wet-bulb temperatures
closely corresponded to the rectal temperature responses, and THI1 was
proposed based on this finding.
THI2 and THI3 appeared in “A Guide to Environmental Research on
Animals” (NRC,1971). However, the information concerning the de-
velopment of THI2 and THI3 in this book proved to be insufficient.
There are some comments relating to THI2 found in literature: 1)
Bohmanova et al. (2007) pointed out that THI2 was designed to reveal
the heat stress level of cattle outdoors, and 2) Hahn et al. (2003) found
that THI2, at the time the study was conducted, has been intensively
used with respect to different environments. Besides, given condition
with saturated air (rh = 100% and Ta = Twb), both THI1 and THI2 are
equal to the dry-bulb temperature, which indicates that the evaluations
of the humidity effect used to define both THI1 and THI2 were based on
a saturation point, and any decline in air humidity (from that a sa-
turation point) will be interpreted as a decrease in the index.
THI4 was first described in “A Stress Physiology in Livestock” by
Yousef (1985). While the authors did note that THI4 was developed to
specifically assess heat stress in Holsteins, they provided little in-
formation related to how the index was developed.
4.1.2. Assessment of the THIs
Using the equivalent temperature method, a study comparing the
four THIs was conducted. Fig. 2 shows the variations in equivalent
temperature associated with a relative humidity increment of from 50%
to 60% in each THI as air temperature rose from 25 to 40 °C. Note that,
because the weights of the dry-bulb temperatures and dew-point tem-
peratures of THI3 and THI4 were the same, they were plotted on the
same curve.
As can be seen, the Tequ of a relative humidity increase of from 50%
to 60% at 25 °C was approximately 0.8 °C for THI2, THI3, and THI4,
while the Tequ for THI1 at 25 °C was about 1.1 °C. As the air temperature
rose from 25 to 40 °C, the Tequ increased from 1.1 to 1.5 °C for THI1,
from 0.8 to 1.9 °C for THI2, and from 0.8 to 0.9 oC for THI3 and THI4.
The increment rate of Tequ associated with THI2 was the largest, fol-
lowed by that associated with THI1.
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X. Wang et al. Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37

expressed in Eq. (8):

BGHI = Tbg +0.36×Tdp + 41.5 (8)

where, Tbg is the black globe temperature (°C).

Fig. 2. The equivalent air temperature changes (Tequ) associated with a relative
humidity increase of from 50% to 60% in each THI as air temperature rises from
25 to 40 °C.
4.2. The black-globe temperature humidity index
4.2.1. Overview
Buffington et al. (1981) developed a black-globe temperature-hu-
midity index (BGHI) based on THI4 by replacing the dry-bulb tem-
perature with a field-measured black-globe temperature (Tbg), as
Black-globe temperature is a comprehensive temperature that
combines the integrated effects of air velocity and solar radiation
(Dimiceli et al., 2013; Gaughan et al., 2008). The black-globe tem-
perature used in the development of BGHI was obtained by measuring
the surface temperature of a 15-cm-diameter black copper sphere fixed
at a height of 2.1 m above ground. The environmental data were listed
in Table 1. A comparison of the BGHI and THI4 showed that the BGHI
had a better correlation with milk yield (r2 = 0.355) than did THI4 (r2
= 0.263) when the cows were exposed to solar radiation (Buffington
et al., 1981). No obvious difference between THI4 (r2 = 0.244) and
BGHI (r2 = 0.228) for shaded cows has been found.
4.2.2. Assessment of the BGHI
Due to the lack of Tbg data, a quantitative assessment of the co-
herence to heat transfer characteristics has been omitted. It seems ap-
propriate to use black-globe temperature in an evaluation of the heat
stress imposed on cows, particularly with respect to cows exposed to
solar radiation, because black-globe temperature integrates the thermal
effects of air temperature, air velocity, and solar radiation.

Table 1
The application range and information on environmental parameters of thermal indices.
Thermal index Application ranges Information on environmental parameters in experiment

THI1 Not stated Ta: 30–50 °C;

Twb: 20.4–32.5 °C
THI2, THI3, and THI4 Not stated Not stated
BGHI Not stated Shade: No shade:
Ta: 27.52 ± 3.35 °C Ta: 27.88 ± 3.72 °C
Tbg: 28.43 ± 3.10 °C Tbg: 36.74 ± 7.30 °C
Tdp: 23.70 ± 1.51 °C Tdp: 23.70 ± 1.51 °C
v: 2.10 ± 1.10 m s−1 v: 2.00 ± 1.05 m s−1
sr: 0 W m−2 sr: 432.5 ± 237.38 W m−2
ETI Ta: 16–41 °C; Ta: 15.9–41.0 °C;
rh: 40–90%; rh: 39.8–90.2%;
v: 0.5–6.5 m s−1 v: 0.5–6.5 m s−1
ET1 Ta: 4–30 °C; Ta: 3.9–30.5 °C;
v: 0–2.25 m s−1 v: 0.27–1.92 m s−1
ET2 Not stated Summer: Autumn:
Ta: 26.5–32.8 °C Ta: 16.2–19.9 °C
Tbg: 36.4–46.2 °C Tbg: 29.5–37.4 °C
RRI1 Ta: > 25 °C; Period YtDa, days Ta, °C rh, % v, m s−1 sr, W m−2
1 162–167 23.52 ± 0.13 66.70 ± 0.41 4.53 ± 0.04 340.20 ± 8.58
2 176–180 25.61 ± 0.11 63.73 ± 0.33 4.77 ± 0.04 320.12 ± 9.01
3 187–191 27.55 ± 0.11 70.53 ± 0.42 3.16 ± 0.03 327.67 ± 9.20
4 197–206 27.97 ± 0.08 72.46 ± 0.28 2.70 ± 0.02 295.88 ± 5.81
5 215–220 28.65 ± 0.11 65.58 ± 0.50 2.17 ± 0.03 273.18 ± 7.11
6 225–229 22.53 ± 0.11 79.87 ± 0.49 2.27 ± 0.03 266.23 ± 8.04
7 239–243 23.87 ± 0.14 76.50 ± 0.58 1.88 ± 0.03 248.52 ± 8.15
8 262–264 17.94 ± 0.20 81.85 ± 0.71 2.68 ± 0.05 236.15 ± 10.78
RRI2 and RRI3 Not stated Not stated
adjusted-THI Ta: 15–40 °C; Hourly (14:00–17:00) Daily
rh: 35–90%; Ta: 17.2–36.0 °C; Ta: 15.6–29.4 °C;
rh: 37.5–98.5%; rh: 62.5–92.7%;
v: 1.0–8.4 m s−1 v: 1.2–6.3 m s−1
sr: 17.6–971.7 W m−2 sr: 56.7–361.5 W m−2
HLI Not stated Not stated
CCI Not stated Summer conditionb
Ta: 19.22–36.36 °C;
rh: 34.36–96.60%;
v: 0.45–7.30 m s−1
sr: 0–1115.32 W m−2
ITSC Not stated Not stated

a
Year to date.
b
CCI contains summer condition and winter condition, but herein only summer condition was shown.

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X. Wang et al. Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37

4.3. The equivalent temperature index
4.3.1. Overview
Baeta et al. (1987) proposed an equivalent temperature index (ETI)
for evaluating the heat stress conditions of housed cattle (Eq. (9)). The
ETI is based on laboratory experiments that involved five high-produ-
cing Holstein dairy cows in a controllable climatic chamber.
increment lasted 30 min, and a 15-min time interval was set with no air
movement.
The authors concluded that the weighting ratio of air temperature
(Ta) and the square root of air movement (v0.5) varied from 1:–9.2 to
1:–10.5 with respect to the variations in respiration rate and the cows’
mean skin temperature. Accordingly, an effective temperature index
(marked as ET1), as expressed in Eq. (10), was developed:

ETI = 27.88 − 0.456×Ta+0.010754×Ta2−0.4905×rh+0.00088×rh2+1.15×v ET 1 = Ta−10(v 0.5) (10)

−0.12644×v 2+0.019876×Ta × rh−0.046313×Ta × v (9)
where, v is the air velocity (m s-1).
During testing, cows were exposed to twenty-one environmental
scenarios, as listed in Table 2. Every scenario lasted three days and was
followed by a 1- to 7-day recovery period spent in a comfortable en-
vironment (that is, 18 °C in Ta, 50% in rh, and 0.5 m s-1 in v) to let the
cows return to their normal milk-production levels. During the entire
experimental period, physiological responses, including milk produc-
tion, rectal temperature, and hair coat temperature, were recorded.
The ETI is designed as the equivalent air temperature under con-
dition of 40% relative humidity and 0.5 m s-1 air velocity. Any changes
in relative humidity and air velocity will thus be translated to equiva-
lent temperatures with respect to milk production and heat loss rate.
The ETI developers noted that the ETI should only be used when the
ambient temperature ranges from 16 to 41 °C, relative humidity ranges
from 40% to 90%, and air velocity ranges from 0.5 to 6.5 m s-1.
4.3.2. Assessment of the ETI
Fig. 3 shows the equivalent air temperature change (Tequ) as air
velocity increased from 1 to 2 m s-1 with the air temperature rising from
25 to 40 °C at three different relative humidity levels (40%, 65%, and
90%). The relative humidity levels were determined based on the ap-
plication range of ETI (Baeta et al., 1987).
According to Fig. 3, we can find that: 1) all the values of Tequ were
negative, indicating that the ETI assumes that any increase in air ve-
locity will have a chilling effect; 2) for all of the three relative humidity
levels, the value of Tequ decreased as the air temperature rose, which
implies that the ETI assumes the chilling effect associated with in-
creasing air velocity will increase as air temperature rises; 3) the value
of Tequ at a fixed air temperature increases as relative humidity in-
creases, indicating that ETI assumes the chilling effect associated with
an increasing air velocity decreases as relative humidity rises at a fixed
air temperature in the ETI.
Besides, a review of the literature indicates that the ETI has not been
widely accepted or applied. Perhaps this is because, as Hahn et al.
(2009) pointed out, the ETI was derived from observations of the test
animals’ milk production over a period of only 3 days and therefore the
results might not reflect longer-term effects.
Afterwards, Yamamoto et al. (1994) developed a second effective
temperature index (marked as ET2) that could be used to evaluate the
effect of solar radiation on the thermoregulatory physiological re-
sponses of young cattle. The black-globe temperature was used as a
measure of solar radiation. The meteorological data and physiological
response data were measured and averaged every half hour from
13:00–16:00 in summer and from 12:30–15:30 in autumn. With respect
to respiration rate and mean body temperature, the weighting ratio of
air temperature (Ta) to the temperature difference between black-globe
temperature and dry bulb temperature (Tbg – Ta) was determined as
1:0.76. Thus, the second effective temperature (ET2) was
ET 2 = 0.24Ta+0.76Tbg (11)
4.4.2. Assessment of the ETs
With respect to ET1, the effect of air movement on the rate at which
heat is lost from a cow is adjusted to a temperature scale in an ex-
ponential relationship. The exponent of 0.5 in ET1 is very close to the
exponent of 0.53 that was obtained from a laboratory experiment in-
volving a six-cylinder artificial cow model (Wiersma and Nelson, 1967).
This power function, which is related to air velocity, demonstrates the
relationship that the chilling effect decreases at an incremental rate as
air velocity increases. However, as an index capable of revealing the
thermal effect of air velocity on heat stress, ET1 fails to consider the
interaction occurring between air temperature and air velocity.
Due to the incorporation of black-globe temperature, ET2 could be a
good heat-stress indicator for cattle subjected to solar radiation because
it can reflect the main effect of solar radiation. However, ET2 should
not be regarded as a good indicator of heat stress in housed/shaded
cattle because it cannot provide much more than the indoor air tem-
perature.
Also, due to the specific objectives of both effective temperature
studies, the thermal effect of relative humidity on the heat stress im-
posed on cattle was neglected in both indices. For this reason, both
effective temperature indices may be problematic under humid condi-
tions.
4.5. The respiration rate indices

4.4. The effective-temperature index 4.5.1. Overview

Since the significant correlation between respiration rate and the
ET was used as the abbreviation of the effective-temperature index heat-stress level was first established, three indices related to respira-
in this study, in order to distinguish it from the equivalent temperature tion rate (all specific to unshaded cattle) have been developed as
index – ETI in Section 4.3.
Table 2
4.4.1. Overview Combinations of environmental scenarios, cited from (Baeta et al., 1987).
To determine the effects of air temperature and air speed on ther- Scenario # Ta, °C rh, % v, m s-1 Scenario # Ta, °C rh, % v, m s-1
moregulatory physiological responses (i.e., rectal temperature, mean
20 20 50 1.7 17 15.9 65 3.5
skin surface temperature, respiration rate, and heart rate), Yamamoto
12 32 50 1.7 9 36.1 65 3.5
et al. (1989) conducted an experiment with four lactating Holstein cows 8 20 80 1.7 5 26 39.8 3.5
in an environmental chamber. Six levels of air temperature (i.e., 4, 8, 18 32 80 1.7 7 26 90.2 3.5
12, 18, 24, and 30 °C) coupled with four levels of air velocity (i.e., 0.60, 16 20 50 5.3 6 26 65 0.5
1.00, 1.60, and 2.25 m s-1) were continuously tested in 6 days with one 14 32 50 5.3 2 26 65 6.5
10 20 80 5.3 1,3,4,13, 15, and 26 65 3.5
temperature setting per day from 11:00–16:00. During the experimental
19
period, the air velocity measurements began at 0.6 m s-1 and continued 11 32 80 5.3 Extra 41 39.8 0.5
as the velocity gradually increased to 2.25 m s-1. Each air velocity

28
X. Wang et al.
Fig. 3. Equivalent air temperature changing (Tequ) of air velocity increase from
1 to 2 m s-1 as air temperature rises from 25 to 40 °C at three relative humidity
levels (40%, 65%, and 90%).
measures of heat stress, as expressed in Eqs. (12)–(14):
RRI 1 = −105.7 + 5.1×Ta+0.58×rh − 1.7×v+0.039×sr
RRI 2 = −183.6 + 4.22×Ts − ave+3.89×Ta−0.07×Tdp−1.53×v+0.03×sr
RRI 3 = −223.7 + 4.23×Ts − ave−4.10×Ta−12.42×Tdp+3.50×v+0.03×sr
+0.12 ×Ta2−0.50 × Tdp
2
+0.3×v 2+0.22 ×Ta × Tdp−0.21×Ta × v
-2
where, sr is the solar irradiance (W m ); Ts-ave is average afternoon hair
coat surface temperature (°C).
RRI1 was developed by Eigenberg et al. (2005) based on field
measurements with eight crossbred steers (1/4 Angus, 1/4 Hereford, 1/
4 Pinzgauer, 1/4 Red Poll). There were eight experimental periods
within a 4-month time span, and each experimental period lasted, on
average, 4.5 days. Information related to environmental parameters can
be found in Table 1. Linear regression analysis was employed to de-
velop the RRI1. Note that RRI1 can only be used to estimate respiration
rates when the air temperature exceeds 25 °C under no-shade conditions
(Eigenberg et al., 2005).
RRI2 and RRI3 were both developed by Brown-Brandl et al. (2005).
Five different modelling methods (two regression methods, a data-de-
pendent fuzzy inference system, a data-free fuzzy inference system, and
a neural-network model) were used to establish the relationship be-
tween respiration rate and the environmental parameters (i.e., Ta, Tdp,
v, and sr). RRI2 is a linear regression model considering the linear ef-
fects of four environmental parameters (i.e., Ta, Tdp, v, and sr) and RRI3
is a quadratic model that considers not only the five linear effects
considered by RRI2, but also five additional significant interaction and
Fig. 4. Respiration rates predicted by RRI1, RRI2, and RRI3 as air temperature increases at 3 different relative humidity levels − 65% (a), 72.5% (b), and 80% (c),
when air velocity is 1 m s-1, and solar radiation is 100 W m-2.
Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37
quadratic effects (i.e., Tdp2, Ta2, v2, Tdp*Ta, and Ta*v). In order to take
the effect of cattle breed into the estimation of respiration rate, the
average afternoon temperature of the hair-coat surface (Ts-ave) was
linearly incorporated in both RRI2 and RRI3, which was 42.7 °C for
Angus, 42.1 °C for MARC III, 40.8 °C for Gelbvieh, and 38.4 °C for
Charolais (Brown-Brandl et al., 2003).
4.5.2. Assessment of the RRIs
According to the equations used by the RRIs, an increase of 1 m s-1
in air velocity will result in a decrease of 1.7 and 1.53 breaths min-1 in
RRI1 and RRI2, respectively, whereas an increase of 100 W m-2 in solar
irradiance will contribute an increase of 3.9, 3, and 3 breaths min-1 in
RRI1, RRI2, and RRI3, respectively.
Fig. 4 shows the variation in respiration rate predicted by RRI1,
RRI2, and RRI3 as air temperature rises from 25 to 40 °C under 3 levels
of relative humidity (65%, 72.5%, and 80%). In this calculation, the air
velocity and solar radiation were fixed at 1 m s-1 and 100 W m-2, re-
spectively. Additionally, RRI2 and RRI3 also assume a skin temperature
of 40.8 °C.
As Fig. 4 shows, the predicted respiration rate associated with RRI1
increased as both air temperature and relative humidity rose, whereas
(12)
the respiration rate associated with RRI2 increased as air temperature
rose, but it did so independently of changes in relative humidity. In
addition, the respiration rate predicted by RRI3 (which is associated
(13)
with an RH of 80%) does not increase as air temperature increases.
Fig. 5 shows that the equivalent air temperature change (Tequ) as air
velocity increased from 1 to 2 m s-1 and air temperature rose from 25 to
40 °C at a relative humidity of 50%.
(14) The values of Tequ for all three RRIs were negative, indicating that
all the RRIs treat the thermal effect that an air velocity increase has on
heat stress as a chilling effect. The Tequ associated with both RRI1 and
RRI2 was not affected by rises in air temperature, whereas the Tequ
associated with RRI3 decreased as the air temperature increased. Such a
decline in Tequ indicates that, with regard to RRI3, the chilling effect
produced by any increase in air velocity increases as the air tempera-
ture rises.
Besides, both RRI2 and RRI3 incorporate breed effect into their
predictions of respiration rate by adding the term Ts-ave. However,
making a prediction that takes into account this physiological para-
meter also depends greatly on the level of solar radiation; in other
words, applying either RRI2 or RRI3 requires additional measurements
of skin surface temperature.
4.6. The adjusted THIs
4.6.1. Overview
Mader et al. (2006) improved the predictive ability of THI2 by
adding the linear effects of wind speed and solar radiation. The data
used (except for solar radiation data) were all collected continuously
29
X. Wang et al.
Fig. 5. Equivalent air temperature change (Tequ) as air velocity increases from 1
to 2 m s-1 for RRI1, RRI2, and RRI3 as air temperature rises at a relative hu-
midity of 50% (Ts-ave = 40.8 °C).
and compiled hourly by a weather station located in the centre of the
feedlot facility. The solar radiation data were obtained from a nearby
weather station (High Plains Climate Centre). The data ranges can be
found in Table 1. Panting rates, via direct visual observation, was used
as a heat-stress physiological indicator. Linear regression was used to
reveal the relationship between environmental parameters and panting
score. As hourly data (collected from 14:00–17:00) and daily data were
used separately in the index-development phase, two different adjusted
THI models (THIadj-h and THIadj-d, respectively) were developed, as
expressed in Eqs. (15) and (16), respectively:
THIadj − h = THI 2 − 1.992×v +0.0068×sr + 4.51 (15)
THIadj − d = THI 2 − 3.075×v +0.0114×sr + 6.80 (16)
where, THI2 denotes the temperature humidity index expressed in Eq.
(5).
As was stated, the hourly-adjusted THI can reveal a “real-time” heat-
stress situation and serve as a basis for modifying a cooling strategy
according to cloud cover and wind speed, and the daily-adjusted THI
could be a better choice for the prediction of heat-stress levels related to
changing climatic conditions.
4.6.2. Assessment of the adjusted THIs
According to the Eqs. (15) and (16), the thermal effect of an increase
of 1 m s-1 in air velocity will be linearly adjusted to − 1.992 and
− 3.075 (THI unit) in THIadj-h and THIadj-d, respectively, indicating that
both indices treat the increase in air velocity as a chilling effect. The
coefficient of − 1.992 in THIadj-h is greater than the one in THIadj-d,
implying that THIadj-d treats the chilling effect produced by an increase
in air velocity as a stronger chilling effect comparing with THIadj-h.
Likewise, the thermal effect of an increase in solar radiation of
100 W m-2 will be adjusted to 0.68 and 1.14 (THI units) in THIadj-h and
THIadj-d, respectively, meaning that both adjusted THIs will treat the
increase of solar radiation as a heating effect. The coefficient of 0.0068
in THIadj-h is smaller than the one (0.0114) in THIadj-d, implying that
THIadj-d treats the heating effect produced by an increase in solar ra-
diation as more stronger heating effect comparing with THIadj-h.
The equivalent air temperature changes (Tequ) that occurred as the
air velocity increased from 1 to 2 m s-1 at three relative humidity levels
(35%, 50%, and 80% with respect to the application range—see
Table 1) and as air temperature rose from 25 to 40 °C were plotted to
examine the interactions that would occur between air temperature,
relative humidity, and air velocity (Fig. 6).
According to Fig. 6, we can find that: 1) the values of Tequ were all
negative, indicating that both adjusted THIs treat the thermal effect of
30
Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37
an air-velocity increase as a chilling effect; 2) no variation of the Tequ in
either adjusted THIs has observed as air temperature increases, in-
dicating that both adjusted THIs assume that air temperature rise has no
effect on the chilling effect of a certain air velocity increment; 3) the
values of Tequ in both indices decrease as the relative humidity in-
creases, which indicates that both indices assume that the chilling effect
of a certain air velocity increment decreases as relative humidity in-
crease.
4.7. The heat load index
4.7.1. Overview
Gaughan et al. (2008) proposed a heat load index (HLI) that in-
corporated black-globe temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed
to predict heat-stress levels and thereby aided the heat-stress abatement
strategies inside cattle barns during hot weather. Data from 13 feedlots
(ten of them located in Australia, and the rest located in the United
States) were used to develop and evaluate the HLI. All the environ-
mental data were recorded at 10-min intervals by automated weather
stations located in each feedlot. The panting scores of 2490 unshaded
Angus steers were compiled from visually recorded data and used to not
only develop the index but also classify the heat-stress thresholds. Based
on an analysis of panting-score data, a black-globe temperature
threshold of 25 °C was identified, above which the panting score of
more than 20% of the cattle increased from 0 to 1. Thus, it was decided
that the black-globe temperature of 25 °C would serve as a “knee point”
separating the HLI into two parts, as expressed in Eq. (17). To predict
black-globe temperature, a formula (Eq. (18)), initially developed by
Gaughan et al. (2002), was adopted:
HLITbg < 25 = 10.66 + 0.28×rh+1.3×Tbg − v
HLITbg > 25 = 8.62 + 0.38×rh+1.55×Tbg −0.5×v + e 2.14 − v (17)
Tbg = 1.33Ta−2.65Ta 0.5+3.21log (sr +1)+3.5 (18)
It should be noted that accurately predicting black-globe tempera-
ture requires a consideration of air temperature, air velocity, and solar
radiation (direct and indirect) (Dimiceli et al., 2013). However, the
predicted black-globe temperature (Eq. (18)) does not incorporate air
velocity and the zenith angle of the sun. Therefore, it can be reasonably
concluded that using the (Eq. (18)) or a direct measurement to predict
black-globe temperature could result in a discrepancy.
4.7.2. Assessment of the HLI
In accordance with Eq. (17), the thermal effect of a 10% increase in
relative humidity will be linearly adjusted to 0.28 and 0.38 (HLI unit)
for any Tbg above or below 25 °C, respectively, which means that the
HLI treats any increase in relative humidity as a heating effect. Also, the
different coefficients indicate that the HLI gives less weight to relative
Fig. 6. Equivalent air temperature changing (Tequ) of air velocity increases from
1 to 2 m s-1 at three RH levels (35%, 50%, and 80%) as air temperature rises
from 25 to 40 °C.
X. Wang et al.
humidity when the Tbg is above 25 °C. Likewise, the fact that the
thermal effect of an increase of 1 m s-1 in air velocity will be linearly
adjusted to − 1 (HLI unit) when the Tbg is below 25 °C implies that any
increase of air velocity will be treated as a chilling effect when the Tbg is
below 25 °C. When the Tbg is above 25 °C, the adjustment made to ac-
count for an increasing air velocity will not be linear.
The equivalent air temperature changes that occur when the air
velocity increases from 1 to 2 m s-1 (marked as Tequ1) and solar irra-
diance increases from 400 to 500 W m-2 (marked as Tequ2) at three re-
lative humidity levels (20%, 50%, and 80%) and four air temperature
levels (25, 30, 35, and 40 °C) were listed in order to examine the in-
teractions that will occur between air temperature, relative humidity,
and air velocity (Table 3). To calculate Tequ1, solar radiation was fixed
at 500 W m-2, and to calculate Tequ2, the air velocity was fixed at 1 m s-1.
According to Table 3, we can find that: 1) all the values of Tequ1 were
negative, indicating that any increase of air velocity will be treated as a
chilling effect when Tbg is above 25 °C; 2) Tequ1 did not change as the
relative humidity increased from 20% to 50% and to 80%, meaning that
the HLI assumes that the increase of relative humidity has no effect on
the change of the chilling effect of an air velocity increment; 3) the
limited increase in Tequ1 as air temperature rose, which can be ne-
glected, indicating that HLI assumes that the increase of air temperature
has no effect on the change of the chilling effect of an air velocity in-
crement; 4) all the values of Tequ2 were positive, indicating that the HLI
will treat any increase of solar radiation as a heating effect.
4.8. The comprehensive climate index
4.8.1. Overview
Mader et al. (2010) proposed a comprehensive climate index (CCI,
Eq. (19)) to evaluate not only heat stress but also cold stress. Reported
data from two previous thermal indices (i.e., the adjusted THIs (Mader
et al., 2006) and the HLI (Gaughan et al., 2008)) were used to de-
termine the relationship between physiological response (panting
score) and the relevant environmental parameters (air temperature,
relative humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation) for warm condition
(Ta > 5 °C). For air temperatures below 5 °C, the relationship of dry
matter intake (DMI) to environmental parameters was defined based on
data reported in published works (i.e., (Birkelo and Lounsbery, 1992),
(Stanton et al., 1994), (Anderson and Schoonmaker, 2005), (Anderson
et al., 2006), (Mader and Colgan, 2007)). Once the general relation-
ships for hot and cold environmental conditions were defined, gen-
eralized exponential and logarithmic algorithms (and data from 7 heat-
stress events and 2 winter conditions, see Table 1) were used to develop
a final model for assessing a full range of environmental conditions.
In developing the CCI, the thermal effects of relative humidity, wind
speed, and solar radiation were all adjusted to conform to dry bulb
temperature (Eqs. 20, 21, and 25, respectively).
CCI = Ta + RHadj + Vadj + RADadj (19)
RHadj = exp (0.00182×rh+1.8×10−5 × Tdb × rh)
×(0.000054×Ta2+0.00192×Ta−0.0246) × (rh−30) (20)
Table 3
The equivalent air temperature changing of an air velocity increase from 1 to 2 m s-1 (Tequ1) and a solar irradiance increase from 400 to 500 W m-2 (Tequ2) at three
relative humidity levels (20%, 50%, and 80%) and four air temperatures (25, 30, 35, and 40 °C).
Ta, °C Tequ1 (sr = 500 W m-2)
25 30 35
rh: 20%, 50%, and 80% − 1.096 − 1.073 − 1.056
31
Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37
−6.56
Vadj = −0.00566×v 2+3.33
exp ⎧
1 ⎫
−6 2.5 −2
⎨
⎩ (2.26 × v +0.23)0.45 × [2.9 + 1.14 × 10 × v − log0.3 (2.26 × v +0.33) ] ⎬
⎭
(21)
where, RHadj, Vadj, and RADadj are the correlation factors of relative
humidity, air velocity, and solar radiation, respectively (°C).
In Eq. (20), an exponential regression was performed to evaluate the
thermal effect of relative humidity. The relative humidity of 30% was
chosen as the baseline, with the air temperature of the CCI being ad-
justed up or down according to whether the relative humidity value was
above or below the baseline. The thermal effect of wind speed was
determined to be a logarithmic adjustment (Eq. (21)). Compared with
the linear adjustment of wind speed that was made in the adjusted THI,
this adjustment of wind speed in the CCI was reported to be more ac-
curate because it will reflect the greater chilling effect that occurs with
a certain increase in wind speed when the wind speed is low rather than
high (Mader et al., 2010).
The adjustment in total radiation (RADadj, Eq. (25)) was separated
into two shares: an adjustment in direct solar radiation (DSRadj, Eq.
(22)) and an adjustment in surface radiation (SRadj, Eq. (24)). The effect
of irradiated ground-surface radiation matters because the amount of
water a cow drinks appears to be highly dependent on irradiated
ground-surface temperature (r2 = 0.70–0.86) (Arias and Mader, 2009).
To predict the irradiated ground-surface temperature, Mader et al.
(2010) proposed a linear regression model (Eq. (23)):
DSRadj = 0.0057sr −0.00002sr × Ta+0.00005Ta2 × sr (22)
Tgs = Ta+0.019sr (23)
SRadj = 0.1×Tgs−2 (24)
RADadj = DSRadj + SRadj = 0.0076×sr −0.00002×sr × Ta+0.00005×Ta2
× sr +0.1×Ta−2 (25)
where, DSRadj, and SRadj are the correlation factors of direct solar ra-
diation and surface temperature, respectively, (°C); Tgs is the ground
surface temperature (°C).
4.8.2. Correction of the Vadj in CCI
There is a calculation example provided by the authors (Mader
et al., 2010), as stated: “An example CCI calculation for environmental
conditions, represented by Ta, RH, WS, and RAD of 30 °C, 50%, 1.0 m s− 1,
and 500 W/m2, respectively, would be as follows: 30 °C + 1.8 (RH ad-
justment from Eq. [1] (Eq. 20 in this review)) + 0.6 (WS adjustment from
Eq. [2] (Eq. 21 in this review)) + 5.5 (RAD adjustment from Eq. [3] (Eq.
25 in this review)) = 37.9”. However, an examination of the corre-
sponding equations shows that the values of RHadj, WSadj (Vadj in the
present study) and RADadj are 1.8 °C, − 0.3 °C, and 5.5 °C, respectively,
and the CCI under the given environmental condition equals to 37.0 °C,
which means that the Eq. (21) might be incorrectly edited.
After a communication with the corresponding author of that paper
(Mader et al., 2010), we got the corrected version of the Vadj (Eq. (26))
Tequ2 (v = 1 m s-1)
40 25 30 35 40
− 1.043 0.292 0.285 0.281 0.277
X. Wang et al. Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37

⎧ ⎫ radiative-heated ground surface and surrounding objects. The ERHL

⎪ −6.56 ⎪
Vadj = and Trm can be determined by the following Eqs. (28 and 29):
⎨
⎪ exp
⎩
{ 1
(2.26 × v +0.23)0.45
× [2.9 + 1.14×10−6 × v 2.5 − log0.3 (2.26×v +0.33)−2] } ⎬
⎪
⎭ ITSC = 77.1747 + 4.8327×Tdb−34.8189×v +1.111v 2+118.6981×Pva
−0.00566×v 2+3.33 (26) 2
−14.7956×Pva −0.1059×ERHL (27)
Therefore, the following assessment of the CCI was derived based on
the Eq. (26). ERHL = 0.5Sp + σTrm 4 (28)

4.8.3. Assessment of the CCI Trm = [εbg −1hbg (Tbg − Ta) + σ (Tbg +273.15) 4]0.25 (29)
Fig. 7 shows the equivalent change in air temperature that occurred where, εbg = 1 represents the emissivity of the black globe; hbg is the
(Tequ) when relative humidity increased from 50% to 60% and the air convective heat transfer coefficient of the black-globe (W m-2 °C-1); Tbg
temperature rose from 25 to 40 °C. All the values of Tequ were positive, is the measured black-globe temperature (°C); σ = 5.67 × 10−8 is the
indicating that the CCI treats an increase in relative humidity during Stefan-Boltzmann constant; Sp is the solar irradiance obtained directly
warm weather (25–40 °C) as a heating effect. The fact that Tequ gra- by means of a pyranometer (W m-2).
dually increased implies that the heating effect that occurs as relative
humidity rises gains in strength as air temperature rises.
4.9.2. Assessment of the ITSC
The equivalent air temperature changes (Tequ) that occurred as the
According to Eq. (27), the ERHL is the sole term for evaluating the
air velocity increased from 1 to 2 m s-1 and the solar radiation incre-
effect of solar radiation on heat stress. Theoretically, the thermal effect
ment rose from 400 to 500 W m-2 at three relative humidity levels
that an increasing solar radiation has on heat stress should be a heating
(20%, 50%, and 80%) as air temperature rose from 25 to 40 °C are
effect, which means that the ITSC should increase as the ERHL in-
displayed in Fig. 8a and b, respectively.
creases. However, the ITSC decreases as the ERHL value increases be-
According to the Fig. 8a, we can find that: 1) the values of Tequ were
cause the coefficient of the ERHL used in the ITSC was negative
all negative, which indicates that the CCI treats the thermal effect
(−0.1059). Because some of the variables (Sp, hbg, and Tbg) cannot be
produced when air velocity increases as a chilling effect; 2) the Tequ
determined based on the information provided in the published paper, a
associated with the air velocity increment from 1 to 2 m s-1 increases as
further analysis of the ITSC was not conducted.
the air temperature rises from 25 to 40 oC, which indicates that the CCI
assumes the chilling effect of air velocity increase becomes weak as the
4.10. Summary of the reviewed thermal indices with respect to their ability
air temperature rises; 3) the Tequ associated with the air velocity in-
to reflect the heat transfer mechanism
crement from 1 to 2 m s-1 increases as relative humidity increase at a
fixed air temperature, indicating that CCI assumes the chilling effect of
This summary is intended to make clear the various attributes and
air velocity increase decreases as the relative humidity increases.
drawbacks of the thermal indices we reviewed. All the cattle-related
From Fig. 8b, we found that 1) all the values of Tequ were positive,
thermal indices were checked to make sure that the heat transfer
indicating that the CCI treats the thermal effect produced by an increase
characteristics listed in Table 4 were reasonably reflected.
in solar irradiance as a heating effect; 2) the Tequ decreased as the re-
As can be seen, the development of thermal indices trends toward
lative humidity increased at a fixed air temperature, which indicates
incorporating more environmental parameters, most likely because, as
that, the CCI treats the heating effect produced by an increase in a given
many studies have shown, the more environmental parameters in-
solar irradiance decreases as relative humidity increases. Besides, note
cluded, the better the index's ability to predict heat stress (Hill and
that the values of Tequ in Fig. 8b associated with a relative humidity of
Wall, 2017).
20% and a relative humidity of 50% increased gradually as air tem-
All of the thermal indices treat increases in air temperature and
perature increased, whereas the values of Tequ at a relative humidity of
humidity (if incorporates) as heating effects and as the primary en-
80% remain steadily at 0.55 °C.
vironmental parameters driving heat stress. All the thermal indices
(except the CCI) that incorporate air velocity treat the thermal effect of
4.9. The index of thermal stress for cows
an air-velocity increase as a chilling effect. However, only the ET1 and
CCI consider the fact that the incremental rate of the chilling effect
4.9.1. Overview
associated with air velocity increasing decreases as the air velocity in-
da Silva et al. (2015) developed an index for measuring the thermal
creases. Besides, all the thermal indices (except the ITSC) that in-
stress suffered by cows (ITSC, Eq. (27)) with special emphasis placed on
corporate the solar radiation component treat the thermal effect of a
the effect of solar radiation in tropical environments. Only Holstein
solar radiation increase as a heating effect.
lactating cows were considered in the study. The cows were exposed to
solar radiation after milking, a period beginning at 07:00 and lasting
until about 16:30. Meteorological data such as the direct and diffused
solar radiations, air temperature, wind speed, and air partial vapour
pressure were measured. Six physiological traits, i.e., rectal tempera-
ture, respiratory rate, convective heat loss, skin surface evaporation,
respiratory evaporation, and radiation heat gain were used to develop
the ITSC. It should also be noted that the amount of convective heat
loss, respiratory evaporation, and radiation heat gain were calculated
based on heat transfer theory. The details of calculations pertaining to
these three physiological traits can be found in (da Silva et al., 2015).
In the ITSC, both direct and diffused solar radiations are considered,
while reflected solar radiation is neglected because it reportedly ac-
counts for only a very small portion (13.2%) of the total short-wave
radiation (da Silva et al., 2010). In the course of the work, two new
metrics for quantifying the mean radiant temperature of the environ-
ment (Trm) and the effective radiation heat load (ERHL) were developed Fig. 7. Equivalent air temperature change (Tequ) of relative humidity increase
and used to estimate the amount of thermal energy emanating from the from 50% to 60% as air temperature rises from 25 to 40 °C.

32
X. Wang et al. Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37

Fig. 8. Equivalent air temperature changes (Tequ) that occur when (a) air velocity increases from 1 to 2 m s-1, and (b) solar radiation increases from 400 to 500 W m-2
at three relative humidity levels (20%, 50%, and 80%) as air temperature rises from 25 to 40 °C.

5. Application ranges of thermal indices
To avoid misapplication, an application range should be considered
as an important component of any thermal index. Theoretically (due to
the regression method used to develop an index), the application range
of a thermal index should match the range of the field measurement
data. Table 1 lists the application ranges and information pertaining to
the environmental parameters. Some thermal indices provide an ap-
plication range in accordance with the relevant range of environmental
parameters, while others do not. Consequently, it is recommended that
future thermal-index development provide a suggested application
range together with relevant statistical information pertaining to the
environmental parameters.
6. Thresholds of thermal indices
The term “threshold” refers to the level at which heat stress will
begin to occur, and as such, it should be regarded as a key component of
any thermal index. Understandably, the different heat-stress levels are
typically defined according to the physiological performance of the
animal in question. This section contains three sub-sections, one that
describes the THI threshold, one describing the HLI threshold, and one
describing the threshold used by all the other thermal indices.
6.1. Thresholds of THI
Traditionally, the THI recognizes four threshold levels, i.e., normal,
THI ≤ 74; alert, 74 < THI < 79; danger, 79 ≤ THI < 84; emergency,
THI ≥ 84 (LCI, 1970). However, in the literature, these levels are cir-
cumscribed differently to account for the differing heat tolerances of
various breeds. Table 5 lists the published THI “thresholds of alert” for
cows.
All of the THI thresholds for alert reviewed here were identified
based on THI2, which in many related studies has become the de facto
standard for evaluating heat stress (Hahn et al., 2003). The THI value of
72 is frequently deemed the threshold at which dairy cattle become
heat-stressed. As can be seen, the highest threshold, 78.2 for Holstein
cattle in Florida, US, was reported by Dikmen and Hansen (2009),
whereas the lowest threshold, 60 for Holsteins in Germany, was re-
ported by Brügemann et al. (2012). Milk yield has been used frequently

Table 4
Summary of cattle-related thermal indices in reflecting heat transfer characteristics.
Thermal Environmental Heat transfer characteristic if the index can reflect (Ta ranges from 25 to 40°C)
index parameters included
Heating effect Heating effect Chilling effect Heating effect Increment rate of eChilling ffect of v Chilling effect of v
of Ta increase? of rh increase? of v increase? of sr increase? chilling effect increasing decreases increasing decreases
decreases as v as Ta increases? as rh increases?
increases?

THI1 T, h y y nn nn nn nn nn
THI2 T, h y y nn nn nn nn nn
THI3 T, h y y nn nn nn nn nn
THI4 T, h y y nn nn nn nn nn
BGHIa T, h, r y y nn y n n n
ETI T, h, v y y y nn n n y
ET1 T, v y nn y nn y n nn
ET2 T, r y nn nn y nn nn nn
RRI1 T, h, v, r y y y y n n n
RRI2 T, h, v, r y y y y n n n
RRI3 T, h, v, r y y y y n n n
THIadj-d T, h, v, r y y y y n n n
HLI T, h, v, r y y y y n n n
CCI T, h, v, r y y n y n n n
ITSC T, h, v, r y y y n n n n

T = air temperature component; h = air humidity component; v = air velocity component; r = solar radiation component.
y = the index can reflect the heat transfer characteristic.
nn = the index cannot reflect the heat transfer characteristic, due to a lack of the relating environmental parameter.
n = the index cannot reflect the heat transfer characteristic, although it involves the relating environmental parameter.
a
Black-globe temperature was considered only as a metric of solar radiation, as HLI did.

33
X. Wang et al. Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37

to identify thresholds; however, other parameters, such as protein yield,
fat yield, protein percentage, and rectal temperature, have also been
used.
It should be noted that the Holstein breed has received more at-
tention than other breeds, most likely because it is the most common,
and all of the reviewed studies were conducted in either the US or
Europe. Apparently, while the THI thresholds will differ according to
climate, our literature review uncovered no published study to establish
THI thresholds in other regions.
6.2. Thresholds of HLI
A comprehensive classification of the heat-stress threshold alerts
was proposed by Gaughan et al. (2008). This classification took into
account not only cattle breed but also coat colour, health status, ac-
climatization, access to shade, manure management, and the tem-
perature of the available drinking water. The HLI value of 86 was
deemed the base threshold of alert for unshaded Angus steers. Adjust-
ments were proposed according to genotype, coat colour, health status,
acclimatization, shade, drinking water temperature, and manure man-
agement (as listed in Table 6). For dairy cattle in tropical regions, da
Silva et al. (2007) proposed a classification system based on the HLI,
which deemed < 89 to be “safe”, 89–92 to be “caution”, 92–95 “ex-
treme caution”, and > 95 to be “danger”.
6.3. Thresholds of the remaining thermal indices
Table 7 lists the thresholds that pertain to the remaining thermal
indices. As can be seen, the RRIs, the adjusted-THI, the CCI, and the
ITSC are all treated as the same, while no classification of thresholds
that pertains to the BGHI, the ETI, the ET1, or the ET2 can be found in
the corresponding publications. As the BGHI was developed on the basis
of the THI4, the BGHI might use the same thresholds as the THI. da
Silva et al. (2007) provided a classification of heat stress specifically for
use with the ETI in tropical regions.
7. Summary of other information
Since heat tolerance is breed-specific (Gaughan et al., 2010), under
identical thermal environments different cattle breeds may react dif-
ferently in their physiological, behavioural and production responses to
heat stress (Stone et al., 2017). Consequently, a thermal index devel-
oped based on one particular breed could over- or under-estimate the
heat-stress level imposed on another breed, even when the environ-
mental conditions are exactly the same in both instances. Besides, da
Silva and Maia (2012) found that even individual cows of the same
breed but living in different climates could perform differently under
identical environmental conditions on account of climate adaptability.
For these reasons, the location of the experimental barn in which an
index was developed matters.
Table 8 lists pertinent information related to index development,
such as cattle breed, physiological response, experimental location, and
whether the animals were shaded or unshaded during testing. Also,
whether the thermal index was published in a peer-reviewed journal or
elsewhere is noted in Table 8. As can be seen, several cattle breeds have
been used in the development of thermal indices. Among them, Hol-
stein cattle received the most intensive investigations. Of the many
physiological responses that have been considered during index de-
velopment, respiration rate might be the most common, most likely
because respiration rate is a physiological heat-stress indicator that has
less thermal lag (Eigenberg et al., 2005).
Besides, most of the indices were developed based on field experi-
mental data collected in the US (RRI1, RRI2, RRI3, adjusted THI in
Nebraska, and BGHI in Florida), except for the ET2 in Japan, the HLI in
Australia, and the ITSC in Brazil. Note that THI1, THI4, ETI, and ET1
were developed based on data collected inside environmental control
chambers.
8. Overview of comparisons of indices found in the literature
To date, four comparisons that used field measurement data have
been reported in the literature.
da Silva et al. (2007) has evaluated five cattle related thermal in-
dices (i.e., THI4, BGHI, ETI, HLI, and RRI1) and also the ESI (En-
vironmental Stress Index) for Holstein and Jersey cows located in a
tropical region (northeast region of Brazil). Note that the ESI was a
human-based thermal index (Moran et al., 2001). In all these evalua-
tions, the indices were correlated with the rectal temperatures and re-
spiration rates of the test animals. Both THI4 and the BGHI did not
correlate with the animals’ actual rectal temperatures and the respira-
tion rates. The HLI correlated most closely (r = 0.542) with the re-
spiration rates, followed by the ETI (r = 0.520). The ETI correlated
most closely (r = 0.293) with rectal temperatures, followed by the HLI
(r = 0.286). According to these results, the HLI and the ETI are re-
commended for evaluating thermal stress in cattle in tropical environ-
ments.
Li et al. (2009) evaluated eight thermal indices (i.e., THI4, THIadj-d,
BGHI, ETI, HLI, RRI1), as well as the predicted black-globe temperature
(Eq. (18)) and the ESI for cattle in the US, using data pertaining to four
physiological responses (i.e., skin temperature, rectal temperature,
sweating rate, and respiration rate). Two datasets were used in this
evaluation. The data pertaining to the four physiological responses in
the first dataset were collected at five different sites (i.e., Ona, Florida;
Oahu, Hawaii; Starkville, Mississippi; Clay Centre, Nebraska; Tucson,
Arizona) from three breeds of dairy cow (Holsteins; Gir-Holstein cross;
Jersey) and six breeds of feedlot heifer (Augus White, Augus Brookville,

Table 5
Published THI thresholds of alert for cows (listed chronologically).
Study THI No. Threshold Physiological responses used for identification Cattle breed Location

(Igono et al., 1992) THI2 72 milk yield Holstein cattle Arizona, US

(Ravagnolo et al., 2000) THI2 72 milk and protein yield Holstein cattle Georgia, US
(Ravagnolo and Misztal, 2002) THI2 72 milk yield Holstein cattle Northern US
76 Southern US
(Bohmanova et al., 2007) THI2 72 milk yield US Holstein cattle Georgia, US
(Bohmanova et al., 2007) THI2 74 milk yield US Holstein cattle Arizona, US
(Broucek et al., 2007) THI2 72 milk yield Slovakian Pied cattle and Holstein cattle Southern Slovakia
(Dikmen and Hansen, 2009) THI2 78.2 rectal temperature Holstein cattle Florida, US
(Zimbelman et al., 2009) THI2 68 milk yield Holstein cattle Arizona, US
(Brügemann et al., 2012) THI2 60 milk yield Holstein cattle Germany
(Hammami et al., 2013) THI2 62 milk, fat, and protein yield Holstein cattle Luxembourg
(Bernabucci et al., 2014) THI2 73–76 milk yield Italian Holstein cattle Cremona, Italy
65–71 protein percentage
72–73 protein yield

34
X. Wang et al. Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37

Table 6 Table 7
Animal (genotype, coat colour, health status, acclimatization) and management Thresholds of reviewed thermal indices (except THI and HLI).
(access to shade, days on feed, manure management, and drinking water tem-
Thermal index Thresholds
perature) adjustments (+ and −) to the heat load index (HLI) threshold of the
reference steera (Adopted from (Gaughan et al., 2008)). BGHI –
ETIa Safe, < 30;
Item Relative effect on upper HLI threshold
Caution, 30 – 34;
of the reference steer (HLI = 86)
Extreme caution, 34–38;
Genotype Danger, > 38
Bos taurus (British) 0b ET1 and ET2 –
B. taurus (European) + 3 (i.e., 86 + 3) RRI1, RRI2, and RRI3 Normal, ≤ 90;
Waygu +4 Alert, 90–110;
Bos indicus (25%) +4 Danger, 110–130;
B. indicus (50%) +7 Emergency, ≥ 130b
B. indicus (75%) +8 adjusted THI Normal: ≤ 74.0;
B. indicus (100%) + 10 Alert: 74 – 79;
Coat colour Danger 79 – 84;
Black 0 Emergency: ≥ 84
Red +1 CCI No stress, ≤ 25 °C;
White +3 Mild, 25–30 °C;
Health status Moderate, 30–35 °C;
Healthy 0 Severe, 35–40 °C;
Showing clinical signs of disease or −5 Extreme, 40–45 °C;
recovering Extreme danger, ≥ 45 °C.
Acclimatization ITSC Comfort, ≤ 150;
Acclimated 0 Mild discomfort, 151–200;
Not acclimated −5 Discomfort, 201–250;
Shadec Stress, 251–350;
No shade 0 Warning, ≥ 350.
Shade, m2/animal a
> 1.5–2 +3 suggested by da Silva et al. (2007) for using ETI in tropical regions.
b
2.0–3 +5 developed with respect to the corresponding categories in THI2
3.0 +7 (Normal: ≤ 74.0; Alert: 74 – 79; Danger 79 – 84; Emergency: ≥84) under
Days on feedd solar radiation and wind speed of 800 W m-2 and 0 m s-1, respectively.
0–80 +2
80–130 0
somatic cell count. The authors reported that the heat-stress thresholds
130 + −3
Manure managemente, maximum depth of all the thermal indices investigated under the continental temperate
of manure pack, mm climate conditions were lower than those obtained under tropical,
50 0 subtropical and Mediterranean climate conditions. The authors specu-
100 −4
lated that this decline in thresholds might be the result of a reduced
200 −8
Drinking water temperaturef, °C adaptability to heat stress under temperate conditions. The THIadj-d was
15–20 +1 recommended for preliminary heat-stress prediction and herd man-
21–30 0 agement under temperate climate conditions.
31–35 −1 da Silva et al. (2015) compared the prediction performances of four
> 35 −2
indices (CCI, HLI, BGHI, and ITSC) based on six physiological traits
a
A healthy, unshaded Angus at 100 d on feed. (i.e., rectal temperature, respiratory rate, convective heat loss, skin
b
The values for the reference steer are presented as 0 (i.e., no change from surface evaporation, respiratory evaporation, radiation heat gain) ex-
the threshold of 86). hibited by Holstein cows kept in a tropical environment. The analysis
c
For shade that provides 70% blockout (includes shade cloth and also steel showed that the CCI correlated most closely with actual rectal tem-
structures with gaps in the roof). Unshaded B. indicus cattle > 25% were not perature (r = 0.374), respiration rate (r = 0.365), and respiratory
included. evaporation (r = 0.408), and the ITSC correlated most closely with
d
Not all cattle were assessed for this trait. Waygu cattle were excluded from convective heat loss (r = −0.493), skin surface evaporation
130 + d. (r = −0.647), and radiation heat gain (r = −0.818).
e
Mean depth over 54d.
f Table 9 lists the correlation coefficients between thermal indices
Only unshaded Angus cattle were assessed for this trait.
and physiological responses (respiration rate, rectal temperature, and
skin temperature) of cattle in the four comparisons. The highest cor-
Augus Kansas, Charolais, MARC I, MARC III). The second dataset was
relation coefficient in each dataset was marked in bold. As can be seen,
obtained from a four-day measurement cycle performed on twelve
the indices performed differently from dataset to dataset. THI4, RRI1
lactating Holsteins confined in controllable environmental chambers at
and ITSC did not result in the best correlation with any of the 8 in-
the University of Arizona Research Complex during August 2008. The
vestigated datasets. Both THIadj-d and HLI resulted in the best correla-
environmental parameters (air temperature, relative humidity, air ve-
tion with one of the datasets, while BGHI, ETI and CCI resulted in the
locity, and solar radiation) were controlled in the experiment, and data
best correlation with two datasets. However, the coefficient of ETI in
pertaining to all four physiological responses were recorded. Li et al.
one dataset was negative. Besides, RRI1 was evaluated by six datasets,
(2009) concluded that skin temperature responded most sensitively to
and four of the six correlation coefficients were relatively high. Like-
environmental conditions, and the THIadj-d, the BGHI, and the RRI1
wise, the THIadj-d was evaluated by four datasets and three of the
correlated most closely to skin temperature. Sweating rate was noted as
coefficients were high. Accordingly, it is quite difficult to determine
the poorest physiological indicator.
which is the best. Generally, however, BGHI, RR1, THIadj-d and CCI
Hammami et al. (2013) assessed six thermal indices (THI2, THIadj-d,
performed better in most datasets.
HLI, ETI, ESI, and CCI) using Holstein cows kept under continental
temperate climate conditions in Luxembourg. The six thermal indices
were evaluated on the basis of milk yields, fat yields, protein yields, and

35
X. Wang et al. Journal of Thermal Biology 77 (2018) 24–37

Table 8
Overview of cattle-related thermal indices that considered cattle breed, physiological responses used for index development (PR), experimental location, testing with
or without direct solar radiation, and place published.
Thermal index CB PRa Location of experiment With or without direct solar Published placeb
radiation

THI1 9-month-old Ayrshire bull calve RT Ayr, UK (climatic room) Shaded PRJP
THI2 & THI3 N/A N/A N/A N/A Book
THI4 Holstein cattle N/A N/A N/A Book
BGHI Mostly Lactating Holstein cows MY Florida, US Both shaded and unshaded PRJP
ETI Lactating Holstein cows MY, HLR Missouri, US (environmental Shaded CP
chamber)
ET1 Lactating Holstein cows RT, MST, RR Hiroshima, Japan (environmental Shaded PRJP
chamber)
ET2 Young Holstein heifers RT, MST, RR Hiroshima, Japan Unshaded PRJP
RRI1 Crossbred steers (1/4 Angus, 1/4 Hereford, 1/4 RR Nebraska, US Feedlot (access to shade) PRJP
Pinzgauer, 1/4 Red Poll)
RRI2 & RRI3 Crossbred steers (1/4 Angus, 1/4 Hereford, 1/4 RR Nebraska, US Feedlot (access to shade) PRJP
Pinzgauer, 1/4 Red Poll)
Adjusted THI Angus and Angus crossbred steers PS Nebraska, US Feedlot (access to shade) PRJP
HLI Bos taurus steers, B. Taurus crossbred steers, B. PS Queensland, Australia and Feedlot (access to shade) PRJP
taurus × Bos indicus steers, indicus steers Nebraska, US
CCI One-year-old steer PS, DMIc Nebraska, US Feedlot (access to shade) PRJP
ITSC Lactating Holstein cows RT, RR, MST, CHL, The northeastern region of Brazil Unshadedd PRJP
SE, RE, RHG

N/A = not available.

a
the physiological responses including: RT = Rectal temperature; MY = Milk yield; HLR = Heat loss rate; MST = mean skin temperature; RR = respiration rate;
PS = Panting score; DMI = Dry matter intake; CHL = Convective heat loss; SE = skin surface evaporation; RE = Respiratory evaporation; RHG = Radiation heat
gain.
b
the published place including: PRJP = peer reviewed journal paper; CP = conference paper.
c
Panting score for hot condition, dry matter intake for cold condition.
d
Cows were driven to a barnyard without shade after milking at 07:00, and continuously exposed to sun until about 16:30.

9. Conclusions and suggestion
The sixteen cattle-related thermal indices have been reviewed and
evaluated in this study. Based on the results of our evaluations, we can
draw the following conclusions:
1. Research aimed at evaluating the various indices has trended to-
wards incorporating more environmental parameters under the as-
sumption that doing so will enable the index to predict heat stress
more accurately.
2. The main effects that environmental parameters impose on heat
stress can be correctly interpreted as either heating effects (in-
creasing of air temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation)
or chilling effects (increasing of air velocity), as long as the corre-
sponding parameter is incorporated. The interaction effects between
environmental parameters are either omitted or treated differently.
3. The concept of the heat-stress threshold is an important component
of any thermal index. Most such “thresholds of alert” are identified
based on THI2. Different breeds, management styles (e.g., the pos-
sibility of access to shade, the cooling method applied inside the
barn, the temperature of drinking water, manure management, etc.),
and the location of the barn where the experiments took place can
all affect the threshold-identification outcomes.
4. Application range, another important component, helps index users
to employ an index accurately. The application range of an index is
similar to the range of environmental data that was used for index
development.
5. The thermal indices reviewed herein are distinct in many ways, such
as in cattle breed tested, physiological responses included, the lo-
cation where experiments took place, and type of management style,
to name a few. Significant differences could occur among the
thermal indices even when applied under similar environmental
conditions.
6. We summarized the results of the four comparisons of indices found
in the extant literature. Indices performed differently from dataset
to dataset. Generally, BGHI, RRI1, THIadj-d and CCI performed better

Table 9
Correlation coefficients between thermal indices and physiological responses of cattle in reviewed caparisons. The coefficients were marked bold if the coefficients
were the highest one in the investigated dataset.
Respiration rate Rectal temperature Skin temperature

TI (da Silva et al., (Li et al., 2009) (Li et al., 2009) (da Silva et al., (da Silva et al., (da Silva et al., (Li et al., 2009) (Li et al., 2009)
2007) dataset 1 dataset 2 2015) 2007) 2015) dataset1 dataset2

THI4 – 0.16 + + 0.39 + – – – 0.40 + + 0.10 ns

BGHI 0.054 ns 0.02 ns 0.73 + 0.198 * * 0.155 * * 0.219 * * 0.42 + + 0.56 + +
ETI 0.293 * * 0.34 + 0.23 + – 0.520 * * – 0.30 + + − 0.29 + +
RRI1 0.114 * * 0.10 ns 0.68 + – 0.344 * * – 0.48 + + 0.54 + +
THIadj-d – 0.19 + + 0.65 + – – – 0.52 + + 0.49 + +
HLI 0.286 * * 0.22 + + 0.68 + 0.123 * * 0.542 * * 0.219 * * 0.36 + + 0.31 + +
CCI – – – 0.365 * * – 0.374 * * – –
ITSC – – – 0.255 * * – 0.275 * * – –

ns = non-significant, * * p-value < 0.01.

+ p-value ≤ 0.0001, + + 0.0001 < p-value < 0.05.

36
X. Wang et al.
in the most studies.
Based on the conclusions, we recommend that future effort should
be made to correlate the index with the theory of heat transfer, as it
pertains to the heat transfer occurring between a cow and the ambient
environment, especially regarding the ways that air velocity interacts
with air temperature and humidity. For instance, to better describe the
convective heat transfer, the Nu-Re correlation that de can be used.
Likewise, for the evaporative heat transfer, the Sh-Re correlation could
be used. Besides, to more accurately interpret the incremental rate at
which a chilling effect decreases as air velocity increases, researchers
should consider including the term va (where v is the air velocity pas-
sing over cattle body, m s-1; and a is a positive constant of 0.53
(Wiersma and Nelson, 1967)) or 0.71 (Wang et al., 2018)).
Acknowledgements
This work was funded mainly by the research grant of Optimized
animal-specific barn climatization facing temperature rise and in-
creased climate variability (Optibarn), EU-FACCE-JPI project con-
sortium, DK-Grant No. 4215-00004B, Innovation Foundation, Denmark.
Thanks are also extended to the China Scholarship Council (CSC) (Grant
number: 201406320185) and the S.C. Van Fonden (Grant number:
1626) for supporting Xiaoshuai Wang's work in Denmark.Conflict of
interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
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