DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.30539867.v2
title: ERA5-Comprehensive Heat Indices (ERA5-CHI) Dataset (v1.0)

description: This dataset offers a globally complete, high-resolution (0.1° × 0.1°), hourly historical reconstruction of 13 comprehensive heat stress indices for the period 1950–2024. Known as ERA5-CHI (ERA5-Comprehensive Heat Indices), the dataset provides the most comprehensive and detailed heat-stress climatology currently available, supporting studies of human thermal comfort, mortality risk, and climate adaptation across diverse environmental conditions.The dataset is built around 13 key thermal comfort and stress indicators, including:<b>1.</b><b> </b><b>Mean Radiant Temperature (Tmrt)</b><b>2.</b><b> </b><b>Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI)</b><b>3.</b><b> </b><b>Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature (Twbg)</b><b>4.</b><b> </b><b>Natural Wet-Bulb Temperatures (Tnwb)</b><b>5.</b><b> </b><b>Indoor Wet-Bulb Temperature (Twb)</b><b>6.</b><b> </b><b>Natural Lethal Heat Stress Index (Lsin)</b><b>7.</b><b> </b><b>Indoor Lethal Heat Stress Index (Lsi)</b><b>8.</b><b> </b><b>Globe Temperature (Tg)</b><b>9.</b><b> </b><b>Heat Index (HI)</b><b>10.</b><b> </b><b>Apparent Temperature (AT)</b><b>11.</b><b> </b><b>Wind Chill (WC)</b><b>12.</b><b> </b><b>Humidex (Hu)</b><b>13.</b><b> </b><b>Normal Effective Temperature (NET)</b>These indices quantify how the human body experiences atmospheric conditions, incorporating the effects of air temperature, humidity, wind speed, solar radiation, and soil moisture—factors critical to assessing heat-related discomfort, workability, and mortality risk.The dataset is derived from the ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalyses from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). ERA5 provides hourly atmospheric data at a global scale using advanced data assimilation techniques, while ERA5-Land refines this output over land with a higher spatial resolution. Together, they underpin ERA5-CHI's detailed global coverage (60°S to 75°N and 180°W to 180°E) and extended historical range.<b>ERA5-CHI improves upon earlier datasets by:</b>· Extended long-term coverage from 1950 to 2024· Utilising 2 m wind speed instead of the standard 10 m, enhancing near-surface physiological relevance· Computing solar zenith angles only during sunlit hours to avoid radiation-related index errors· Providing both indoor and outdoor variants of key indices (e.g., Lsi, Tw)· Offering the first global hourly dataset for the empirical, mortality-based lethal heat stress index (Ls)The dataset is particularly relevant for applications in climate-health research, urban planning, occupational heat risk, and climate adaptation, especially in vulnerable regions such as the Middle East, South Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa.The dataset currently covers 01/01/1950 to 12/31/2024. The dataset is produced by the Climate Change Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in collaboration with international researchers.<b>Data </b><b>Download Link</b><b> and </b><b>User Guide to Access Data</b>The <b>ERA5-CHI</b> dataset is available for public access and download via <b>Globus</b>, hosted by the <b>KAUST (</b><b>King Abdullah University of Science & Technology</b><b>) Data Repository – Datawaha</b>. To access the data, the user should read the following document:'User Guide to Access the ERA5-CHI Dataset via Globus'For further important details, the user should read the following document:'ERA5-CHI Description'<b>Cite Data:</b> Malik, Abdul; Masabathini, Sateesh; Ahmed Shaikh, Mohsin; Kong, Qinqin; Usman, Muhammad; Prasad Dasari, Hari; et al. (2025). ERA5-Comprehensive Heat Indices (ERA5-CHI) Dataset. figshare. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.30539867License<br>ERA5-CHI (v1.0) © [Abdul Malik (KAUST)], 2025; Licensed under <b>Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)</b><b>; </b>Source data: ERA5 reanalysis (© ECMWF, Copernicus Climate Change Service). Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information [2025]. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of the information it contains.For license, read LICENSE.txt