TY - JOUR A1 - Subramaniam, Jayant Shanmugam A1 - Hubig, Michael A1 - Schenkl, Sebastian A1 - Muggenthaler, Holger A1 - Springer, Steffen A1 - Weiser, Martin A1 - Sudau, Jakob A1 - Shah, Faisal A1 - Mall, Gita T1 - Reconstructing sudden ambient temperature changes for forensic death time estimation using temperatures in two closed compartments: Proof of concept JF - International Journal of Legal Medicine N2 - Ambient temperature TA has a strong impact on temperature-based time since death estimation (TTDE). Frequently TA is lowered instantaneously at some time t0 from a previous value TA0 to TA1 < TA0 by, e.g., opening a window or a door. We aim at reconstructing TA0 and t0. TTDE literature suggests temperature measurements in closed compartments such as cupboards or neighboring rooms, where TA0 could have been ‘preserved’ after t0. We aim to estimate t0 and TA0 from temperature measurements TZ(t) in closed compartments Z at times t > t0. We obtain promising results assuming Newtonian cooling for boxes filled with air, heaps of clothes, or books in two different experimental scenarios. Two different parameter estimators, (TA0^, t0^) based on four temperature measurements and (TA0*, t0*) for 4N measurements were tested. Our results in a climate chamber were partially appropriate for TTDE input. A decline at time t0 from TA0 = 22.5°C ↓ TA1 = 14°C was reconstructed at t = t0 + 95min with relative deviations ρt0^ = 27% and ρTA0^ = 19% relative to t - t0 and TA0 – TA1 respectively, for N = 1 with span Δt = 50min. For N = 200 in a time interval [t0 + 95min, t0 + 295min] we found ρt0^ = 5% and ρTA0^ = 11% with the same Δt. Further research is necessary to guarantee applicability in routine casework, in particular with respect to more elaborate cooling models, estimation algorithms, and evaluation localization. Y1 - 2026 ER -