Use Of Historically Collected Ambient Temperature Data In The Creation Of Temperature Profiles

By Jason Heberle, CTP, Cold Chain Development Engineer, Cryopak, Inc

One of the most continuously undefined yet singularly utmost important variables of temperature controlled shipping is the actual ambient temperature that will be found enroute. In protected or unprotected, active or passive systems the ambient temperature will impact the shipments ability to maintain within its stability expectations.

As humans we know that it tends to be warm in summer, cooler in spring and fall, and cold during winter. We also know that the climate varies depending on the region of the earth. In general, regions closer to the north and south poles will be colder overall than near the equator. This inherent knowledge drives our basic thought process on
development of protection for temperature controlled shipments. One might design a shipper going to Hawaii in June using the same ideas as if one were packing to go there on vacation. This tribal knowledge or group think often predicts our thoughts on what we expect temperatures to be.