TY - GEN A1 - Weiser, Martin A1 - Hubig, Michael A1 - Shanmugam Subramaniam, Jayant T1 - Reconstructing Ambient Temperature Changes in Death Time Estimation with a Bayesian Double-Exponential Approach T2 - Zenodo N2 - Code and data for the reconstruction of ambient temperature drop in time of death estimation We provide Octave code and temperature measurement data for - empirircally estimating thermal sensor likelihood - estimating time and amplitude of a single sudden ambient temperature drop from temperature measurement data in two thermally different compartments. Y1 - 2025 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17702240 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Subramaniam, Jayant S. A1 - Hubig, Michael A1 - Muggenthaler, Holger A1 - Schenkl, Sebastian A1 - Ullrich, Julia A1 - Pourtier, Grégroire A1 - Weiser, Martin A1 - Mall, Gita T1 - Sensitivity of temperature-based time since death estimation on measurement location JF - International Journal of Legal Medicine N2 - Rectal temperature measurement (RTM) from crime scenes is an important parameter for temperature-based time of death estimation (TDE). Various influential variables exist in TDE methods like the uncertainty in thermal and environmental parameters. Although RTM depends in particular on the location of measurement position, this relationship has never been investigated separately. The presented study fills this gap using Finite Element (FE) simulations of body cooling. A manually meshed coarse human FE model and an FE geometry model developed from the CT scan of a male corpse are used for TDE sensitivity analysis. The coarse model is considered with and without a support structure of moist soil. As there is no clear definition of ideal rectal temperature measurement location for TDE, possible variations in RTM location (RTML) are considered based on anatomy and forensic practice. The maximum variation of TDE caused by RTML changes is investigated via FE simulation. Moreover, the influence of ambient temperature, of FE model change and of the models positioning on a wet soil underground are also discussed. As a general outcome, we notice that maximum TDE deviations of up to ca. 2-3 h due to RTML deviations have to be expected. The direction of maximum influence of RTML change on TDE generally was on the line caudal to cranial. Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-023-03040-y VL - 137 SP - 1815 EP - 1837 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ullrich, Julia A1 - Weiser, Martin A1 - Subramaniam, Jayant A1 - Schenkl, Sebastian A1 - Muggenthaler, Holger A1 - Hubig, Michael A1 - Mall, Gita T1 - The impact of anatomy variation on temperature based time of death estimation JF - International Journal of Legal Medicine N2 - Temperature-based time of death estimation (TTDE) using simulation methods such as the finite element (FE) method promises higher accuracy and broader applicability in nonstandard cooling scenarios than established phenomenological methods. Their accuracy depends crucially on the simulation model to capture the actual situation. The model fidelity in turn hinges on the representation of the corpse’s anatomy in form of computational meshes as well as on the thermodynamic parameters. While inaccuracies in anatomy representation due to coarse mesh resolution are known to have a minor impact on the estimated time of death, the sensitivity with respect to larger differences in the anatomy has so far not been studied. We assess this sensitivity by comparing four independently generated and vastly different anatomical models in terms of the estimated time of death in an identical cooling scenario. In order to isolate the impact of shape variation, the models are scaled to a reference size, and the possible impact of measurement location variation is excluded explicitly, which gives a lower bound on the impact of anatomy on the estimated time of death. Y1 - 2023 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-023-03026-w VL - 137 SP - 1615 EP - 1627 ER - 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 -