TITLE:
Apparent Temperature in Northwest China: A Review of the Calculation Methods and Analysis
AUTHORS:
Yuxi Yang, Lu Zhang, Kun Xie, Ruixi Wu, Mengzhou Yang, Er Lu
KEYWORDS:
Northwest China, Apparent Temperature, Calculation Method, Arid and Semi-Arid Region, Systematic Review
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.14 No.9,
September
9,
2026
ABSTRACT: Northwest China, dominated by a temperate continental climate, constitutes one of the largest arid and semi-arid regions in East Asia. Characterized by an intricate mosaic of mountains, river valleys, and basins, this region possesses unique thermodynamic features regarding air temperature, humidity, surface wind speed, and solar radiation. Conventional universal apparent temperature models fail to adapt to such distinctive topographic and climatic properties, thereby limiting their applicability in operational meteorological services. This study systematically reviews domestic and international theories and computational methods for apparent temperature, and comparatively analyzes the performance of various algorithms in arid and mountainous environments based on previous localized studies conducted in typical Northwest Chinese regions, including Urumqi and Golmud. The results indicate that existing universal formulas inadequately account for regional climatic peculiarities of Northwest China, such as dry-hot winds, intense high-altitude solar radiation, and substantial diurnal temperature variations. The widespread deficiency of localized parameter calibration leads to prominent errors in apparent temperature forecasting at high-altitude stations. Future research should optimize the segmented correction coefficients of wind speed and solar radiation based on multi-source observational datasets in Northwest China, refine apparent temperature simulation accuracy through machine learning-based error calibration, and develop region-specific apparent temperature computational frameworks tailored to arid plateau environments. These improvements will provide robust technical support for regional health and tourism meteorological services.