kata thermometer

• katathermometer, kata-thermometer, Kata thermometer, Kata-thermometer

From Ancient Greek κατά (katá, “down”)

kata thermometer (plural kata thermometers)

1. (measuring instrument) A device consisting principally of an alcohol thermometer, used to measure air cooling power and, indirectly, small wind speeds in circulating air, by measuring the time taken for the temperature of the bulb of alcohol to make a specified drop (100° to 95°F).
   • 1945, Institution of Heating and Ventilating Engineers (Great Britain), The Building Services Engineer, Volume 13, page 90,

     Though the kata-thermometer was originally designed for measuring human comfort, it afterwards turned out to be far more useful as an anemometer.

   • 1953, Thomas Bedford, Thermal Factors in the Environment which Influence Fatigue, Alan Traviss Welford, Symposium on Fatigue and Symposium on Human Factors in Equipment Design, page 9,

     Leonard Hill (1914, 1919) introduced his kata thermometer for the measurement of the "cooling power" of the environment.

   • 2003, Kenneth C. Parsons, Human Thermal Environments: The Effects of Hot, Moderate and Cold Environments on Human Health, Comfort and performance, page 103,

     The Kata thermometer (Hill et al., 1916), for example, is an alcohol thermometer with a large bulb which is heated and exposed to the environment. […] The Kata thermometer provides a good general measure of air velocity; however, in fluctuating air the variation in air velocity will affect human response and should be quantified.

• kata factor