Unit 7: Temperatures of the Lower
Atmosphere
Average January surface temperatures.
Source: http://www.meteo.psu.edu/~j2n/3_1_avetemp_sub.bmp

• Discuss the measurement and characteristics of temperature and heat
• Explain the adiabatic process whereby vertically moving air warms and cools
• Discuss the global distribution of temperatures and their variation in time and space

Temperature, Temperature Scales
• What is temperature?
• Thermometers
• Scales: Celsius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin
Source: http://www.windows2universe.org/physical_science/basic_tools/images/thermometers_kelvin_celsius_fahrenheit_sm.gif

The Vertical Distribution of Temperature
• Environmental Lapse Rate
• Adiabatic Lapse Rates
-Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR)
- Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR)
• Stability
-stable
-inversions (ground, subsidence)
-unstable
-conditionally stable
Source: http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Sect14/Sect14_1b.html
• Stability and Air Pollution

James Glaisher and his assistant, Coxwell, during a balloon flight on September 5, 1862.

Concept of Stability
Source: http://epswww.unm.edu/facstaff/gmeyer/envsc101/wk11atmcompcirc.htm

Environmental lapse rate conditions
Source: h ttps://www.meted.ucar.edu/sign_in.php?go_back_to=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.meted.ucar.edu%252Fmesoprim%252Fbandedprecip%25
2Fprint.htm

In an unstable atmosphere numerous thunderstorms billow up as viewed over southern Florida looking south.

Downtown Los Angeles is a leading city of air pollution due to poor vertical and horizontal mixing. Throughout the summer, there is a restrictive temperature inversion over the region. Adopting the strictest air pollution controls in the world, the air quality has improved remarkably.
Fig. 8.7 3 rd ed.

Horizontal Distribution of Temperature
• Temporal cycles
-Daily cycle
-Annual cycle
• Heating of land vs. water
-maritime effect
-continental effect, continentality
• Global temperature variations
-seasonal variations
-isotherms and temperature gradients

Figure 3.12

Figure 3.20

The annual range in sea surface temperature (A) and the lag between maximum solar heating and the date of maximum temperature (B).

Fig 8.9-annual temperature regimes for inland vs coast

Figure 3.17

Annual Temperature Regime in Siberia
Source: http://www.verkhoyansk.climatemps.com/

Mean sea-level air temperatures, in Fahrenheit for January
Source: http://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu/classes/met130/notes/chapter3/graphics/jan_temps.jpg

Mean sea-level air temperatures, in Fahrenheit for July
Source: http://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu/classes/met130/notes/chapter3/graphics/july_temps.jpg

Figure 3.28

Figure 3.30

• Wind chill
– Correlates cold and wind speed
• Heat index
– Correlates heat and humidity

Figure 1

Figure 2