Air Temperature

Abstract

Air temperature is one of the most important elements of weather and climate. By definition, temperature is a physical quantity which characterizes the degree of heating a physical body, which occurs as a result of accidental secondary movement of molecules in the body. In a physical sense, temperature is a measure of the mean velocity of the level of kinetic energy of molecules. In other terms air temperature is characterized by the relationship of two bodies that are in mutual thermal contact tending to reach the same temperatures. More significant, air temperature is a measure of the atmospheric heat content as a response to combined effects of absorbed solar radiation by the Earth’s surfaces, the vertical fluxes of sensible and latent heat released to the air by the process of convection, and horizontal advection (movement) of warm and cold air masses (Ambaum 2010; Lutgens and Tarbuck 2009). Thus, the temperature is a thermodynamic condition of the body, and its value is determined by the total flow of heat between bodies. In such systems, the overall body loses heat in relation to another body in case of a higher temperature. To define temperature as a physical quantity which is related to the state of the body is hard. For this purpose, an internationally accepted temperature scale is defined, based on universal freezing and the triple point of water. The temperature of the atmosphere is controlled by a complex system of interactions between biosphere, atmosphere, and lithosphere (Fig. 7.1). Energy is continuously exchanged between the surface and the air over the place and the circulation of air around the globe.