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Spectral radiative properties of a living human body

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Abstract

Spectral radiative properties of the human body were studied experimentally in the region from the ultraviolet to the far-infrared to know the thermal response of the human body exposed to solar radiation and infrared radiation. The measuring equipment for reflectance and transmittance of a semitransparent scattering medium was developed and measurement on a living human skin was performed in vivo. The measured parts are forearm, cheek, dorsum hand, hip, and hair. The values obtained by the present study are much different from those of previous in vitro measurements. Fairly large values for hemispherical reflectances are observed in the visible and near-infrared regions but very small values for hemispherical reflectances are observed in the infrared region, below 0.05. By applying the four-flux treatment of radiative transfer, the absorption coefficient and scattering coefficient in the human skin are determined. The scattering coefficient is large in the visible region but negligible in the infrared region. The absorption coefficient is very close to that of water and large in the infrared region.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering, Kyoto University, 606, Kyoto, Japan

    N. Terada, K. Ohnishi & T. Kunitomo

  2. Research Institute, Daikin Co. Ltd., Kanaoka-cho 1304, Sakai-shi, 591, Osaka, Japan

    M. Kobayashi

Authors
  1. N. Terada
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  2. K. Ohnishi
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  3. M. Kobayashi
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  4. T. Kunitomo
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Terada, N., Ohnishi, K., Kobayashi, M. et al. Spectral radiative properties of a living human body. Int J Thermophys 7, 1101–1113 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00502381

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00502381

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