| Abstract | The thermal responses of volunteers, with 500mL of water underneath their immersion suits, were measured in conditions consisting of varying wind speeds, and wave heights. Twelve healthy males performed three, three hour immersions in Calm Water, Weather 1 (wind speed = 3.5 m·s-1, max wave height = 0.34m), and Weather 2 (wind speed = 4.6 m·s-1, max wave height = 0.64m) in a commercially available immersion suit. The two weather conditions produced a significantly greater increase in heat flow compared to Calm. There was no significance difference in heat flow between the two weather conditions. There was no significant difference in deep body temperature or MBT across all immersion conditions. There were no significant differences in metabolic heat production across all immersion conditions. Compared to previous work when the participants were dry underneath their immersion suits, heat flow and metabolic heat production were significantly greater with 500mL of water in the suit. It is recommended that future testing of humans in immersion suits incorporate the increased heat loss due to wind and waves, and the effort to ensure people stay dry inside of them to continue. |
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