question: true temperature vs ‘feels like’ temperature - which is accurate?
comment: > Which is accurate? True temperature is accurate in the sense of what the temperature actually is in the air of the environment. However this isn't necessarily the most *relevant* since what you *feel* like is the net result of your body trying to maintain its temperature against the environment. So if it's 55, calm, and sunny, you might feel comfortable as the sun warms your skin, your body warms the air around you, and you maintain your temperature with relative easy. If it's 55, blustery winds, and raining, then the wind is stealing away your shell of warm air, the rain is transferring heat efficiently out of your skin, and you are shivering and miserable, because the environment is cooling you off much more effectively. In both cases it is 55, but what you feel is the net result of you vs the environment. So pick which is more accurate to what you are interested in.
passages: Apparent temperature
  
  Apparent temperature is the temperature equivalent perceived by humans, caused by the combined effects of air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed. The measure is most commonly applied to the perceived outdoor temperature. However it also applies to indoor temperatures, especially saunas and when houses and workplaces are not sufficiently heated or cooled.
  
  BULLET::::- The heat index and humidex measure the effect of humidity on the perception of temperatures above . In humid conditions, the air feels much hotter because less perspiration evaporates from the skin.
   Section::::Influencing factors.:Relative humidity.:Interplay of temperature and humidity.
  
  Various types of apparent temperature have been developed to combine air temperature and air humidity. 
  
  For higher temperatures, there are quantitative scales, such as the heat index.
  
  For lower temperatures, a related interplay was identified only qualitatively:
  
  High humidity and low temperatures cause the air to feel chilly.
  
  Cold air with high relative humidity "feels" colder than dry air of the same temperature because high humidity in cold weather increases the conduction of heat from the body.
   The heat index and its counterpart the humidex both take into account only two variables, shade temperature and atmospheric moisture (humidity), thus providing only a limited estimate of thermal comfort. Wind passing over wet or sweaty skin causes evaporation and a wind chill effect that the heat index does not measure. The other major factor is sunshine; standing in direct sunlight can add up to to the apparent heat compared to shade. There have been attempts to create a universal apparent temperature, such as the wet-bulb globe temperature, "relative outdoor temperature", "feels like", or the proprietary "RealFeel".
  
  Section::::Meteorological considerations.
   "" br
  
  "Q" = the dry heat loss, or power, recorded by the manikinbr
  
  "t" = the skin temperature of the manikinbr 
  
  "t" = the equivalent temperature of the room (the calibration temperature)
  
  This factor may then be used to calculate equivalent temperature during further experiments in which radiant temperature and air velocity are not controlled using the equation:br
  
  Section::::Setup.
   ASHRAE 55-2010 defines SET as "the temperature of an imaginary environment at 50% relative humidity,  average air speed, and mean radiant temperature equal to average air temperature, in which total heat loss from the skin of an imaginary occupant with an activity level of 1.0 met and a clothing level of 0.6 clo is the same as that from a person in the actual environment, with actual clothing and activity level."""
   where "P" is the gas pressure, "B" is a constant that depends on the thermocouple temperature, the gas composition and the vacuum-chamber geometry, "V" is the thermocouple voltage at zero pressure (absolute), and "V" is the voltage indicated by the thermocouple.
  
  The alternative is the Pirani gauge, which operates in a similar way, over approximately the same pressure range, but is only a 2-terminal device, sensing the change in resistance with temperature of a thin electrically heated wire, rather than using a thermocouple.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Heat flux sensor
  
  BULLET::::- Bolometer
  
  BULLET::::- Giuseppe Domenico Botto
  
  BULLET::::- Resistance thermometer
  
  BULLET::::- Thermistor
   BULLET::::- Comparison calibrations: is commonly used with secondary SPRTs and industrial RTDs. The thermometers being calibrated are compared to calibrated thermometers by means of a bath whose temperature is uniformly stable. Unlike fixed-point calibrations, comparisons can be made at any temperature between −100 °C and 500 °C (−148 °F to 932 °F). This method might be more cost-effective, since several sensors can be calibrated simultaneously with automated equipment. These electrically heated and well-stirred baths use silicone oils and molten salts as the medium for the various calibration temperatures.
  
  Section::::Element types.
   One must be careful when measuring temperature to ensure that the measuring instrument (thermometer, thermocouple, etc.) is really the same temperature as the material that is being measured. Under some conditions heat from the measuring instrument can cause a temperature gradient, so the measured temperature is different from the actual temperature of the system. In such a case the measured temperature will vary not only with the temperature of the system, but also with the heat transfer properties of the system.
   In hot areas, some US military installations display a flag to indicate the heat category based on the WBGT. The military publishes guidelines for water intake and physical activity level for acclimated and unacclimated individuals in different uniforms based on the heat category.
  
  Section::::Related temperature comfort measures.
  
  The heat index used by the U.S. National Weather Service and the humidex used by the Meteorological Service of Canada, along with the wind chill used in both countries, are also measures of perceived heat or cold, but they do not account for the effects of radiation.
   Many formulas exist for wind chill because, unlike temperature, wind chill has no universally agreed upon standard definition or measurement. All the formulas attempt to qualitatively predict the effect of wind on the temperature humans "perceive". Weather services in different countries use standards unique to their country or region; for example, the U.S. and Canadian weather services use a model accepted by the National Weather Service. That model has evolved over time.
   The apparent temperature (AT), invented in the late 1970s, was designed to measure thermal sensation in indoor conditions. It was extended in the early 1980s to include the effect of sun and wind. The AT index used here is based on a mathematical model of an adult, walking outdoors, in the shade (Steadman 1994). The AT is defined as; the temperature, at the reference humidity level, producing the same amount of discomfort as that experienced under the current ambient temperature and humidity.
  
  The formula is:
  
  where:
  
  BULLET::::- "T" = dry bulb temperature (°C)
  
  BULLET::::- "e" = water vapour pressure (hPa)
   BULLET::::- The wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) combines the effects of radiation, humidity, temperature and wind speed on the perception of temperature. It is not often used, since its measurement requires the use of a globe thermometer exposed to the sun, which is not part of the standard arsenal of meteorological equipment used in official weather conditions reporting (nor are, in most cases, any other explicit means of measuring solar radiation; temperature measurement takes place entirely in a shade box to avoid direct solar effects).
   BULLET::::- "T" = air temperature, °C
  
  Section::::Alternative approaches.:North American and United Kingdom wind chill index.
   Section::::Calibration.
  
  Section::::Calibration.:Temperature sensors.
   Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Atmospheric temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Body temperature (thermoregulation)
  
  BULLET::::- Color temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Dry-bulb temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Heat conduction
  
  BULLET::::- Heat convection
  
  BULLET::::- Instrumental temperature record
  
  BULLET::::- ISO 1
  
  BULLET::::- ITS-90
  
  BULLET::::- Laser Schlieren Deflectometry
  
  BULLET::::- List of cities by temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Maxwell's demon
  
  BULLET::::- Orders of magnitude (temperature)
  
  BULLET::::- Outside air temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Planck temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Rankine scale
  
  BULLET::::- Relativistic heat conduction
  
  BULLET::::- Satellite temperature measurements
  
  BULLET::::- Scale of temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Sea surface temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Stagnation temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Thermal radiation
  
  BULLET::::- Thermoception
  
  BULLET::::- Thermodynamic (absolute) temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Thermography
  
  BULLET::::- Thermometer
  
  BULLET::::- Virtual temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Wet-bulb globe temperature
  
  BULLET::::- Wet-bulb temperature
   BULLET::::- "U" is the rate of heat transfer across the building envelope per degree temperature difference between outdoor and indoor temperature and per unit floor area, given in W/°C/m (Btu/s/°F/ft). This heat transfer can vary due to variations of fresh air ventilation rate but is largely considered constant to a first order approximation.
   BULLET::::- The wind chill factor measures the effect of wind speed on cooling of the human body below 10 °C (50 °F). As airflow increases over the skin, more heat will be removed. Standard models and conditions are used.
   Most performance and flight planning graphs and tables use either degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit or both. The Kelvin scale, however, is used for Mach number calculations. For example, the speed of sound in dry air is 
  
  where:
  
  Section::::Aviation usage.:Sources.
   In addition to varying throughout the day, normal body temperature may also differ as much as from one day to the next, so that the highest or lowest temperatures on one day will not always exactly match the highest or lowest temperatures on the next day.
  
  Normal human body temperature varies slightly from person to person and by the time of day. Consequently, each type of measurement has a range of normal temperatures. The range for normal human body temperatures, taken orally, is (). This means that any oral temperature between is likely to be normal.
   Surface temperature
  
  Surface temperature is the temperature at or near a surface. 
  
  Specifically, it may refer to:
  
  BULLET::::- Surface air temperature, the temperature of the air near the surface of the earth
  
  BULLET::::- Sea surface temperature, the temperature of water close to the ocean's surface
  
  BULLET::::- Surface temperature of a star, often the effective temperature
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Instrumental temperature record, the historical record of in situ measurements of surface air and sea temperatures
  
  BULLET::::- Pyrometer, a device that remotely determines the temperature of a surface
  
  BULLET::::- Infrared thermometer, a type of pyrometer
   There are six primary factors that directly affect thermal comfort that can be grouped in two categories: personal factors - because they are characteristics of the occupants - and environmental factors - which are conditions of the thermal environment. The former are metabolic rate and clothing level, the latter are air temperature, mean radiant temperature, air speed and humidity. Even if all these factors may vary with time, standards usually refer to a steady state to study thermal comfort, just allowing limited temperature variations.
  
  Section::::Influencing factors.:Metabolic rate.
   The Australian formula includes the important factor of humidity and is somewhat more involved than the simpler North American model. The North American formula was designed to be applied at low temperatures (as low as ) when humidity levels are also low. The hot weather version of the AT (1984) is used by the National Weather Service in the United States. In the United States, this simple version of the AT is known as the heat index.
  
  Section::::External links.
  
  BULLET::::- National Center for Atmospheric Research Table of wind chill temperatures in Celsius and Fahrenheit
  
  BULLET::::- Wind chill calculator
   AccuWeather created a unified and proprietary apparent temperature system known as "The AccuWeather Exclusive RealFeel Temperature" and has used the quantity in its forecasts and observations. The formula for calculating this value incorporates the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation, and elevation on the human body, similar to the rarely used (but public domain) wet-bulb globe temperature. AccuWeather has been granted a United States patent on The RealFeel Temperature, but the formula is a trade secret and has not been reviewed by other meteorological authorities. In response to AccuWeather's "RealFeel", The Weather Channel introduced their "FeelsLike" temperature reading.
   Section::::Calibration.:Equivalent temperature.
   Other important devices for measuring temperature include:
  
  BULLET::::- Thermocouples
  
  BULLET::::- Thermistors
  
  BULLET::::- Resistance temperature detector (RTD)
  
  BULLET::::- Pyrometer
  
  BULLET::::- Langmuir probes (for electron temperature of a plasma)
  
  BULLET::::- Infrared
  
  BULLET::::- Other thermometers
  
presuppositions: True temperature and feels like temperature are comparable for accuracy.
corrections: True temperature and feels like temperature are not comparable because true temerature measures the air, and feels like temperature is the net result of body temperature maintained against the environment.
raw_presuppositions: True temperature and feels like temperature are comparable for accuracy. Only one of the true temperature or the "feels like" temperature is accurate.
raw_corrections: True temperature and feels like temperature are not comparable because true temerature measures the air, and feels like temperature is the net result of body temperature maintained against the environment. The accuracy of the temperature depends on what matters to the person feeling the temperature.