Air Temperature

(Credit NOAA)
South Pole Station, Antarctica, one of the coldest places on Earth

The temperature of our atmosphere is controlled by a complex set of interactions between

the biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere. Energy is constantly exchanged
between the surface and the air above, as well as circulating around the globe. Here we'll
look at what controls the air temperature at a particular place by examining radiation and
energy exchanges between the earth and air above. Then we'll examine how the global
circulation of air and water affects air temperature.
You may view a list of chapter topics by clicking the "Topic Outline" link or go directly to the
first topic by clicking "Continue".

Controls over air temperature

Temperature is a measure of the heat content of a body. It is a measure of the average
speed of the random motion of molecules that comprise a substance. The air temperature at
any place is determined by (1) radiation and heat transfers between the surface and the air
above, (2) the location relative to a large body of water, and (3) the movement of vast pools
of air called air masses.

Radiation, sensible heat and temperature

The air temperature at a place is determined by the exchange of radiant energy between
the Sun, Earth, and its atmosphere. Solar radiation is the principle source of energy to heat
the surface. Shortwave solar radiation easily penetrates to the surface without much
absorption by the gases that comprise the atmosphere. As the sun heats the surface during
the day, the earth warms and increases its output of infra red, or longwave radiation. The
gases of the atmosphere, being relatively good absorbers of longwave radiation, are
warmed and experience a rise in temperature. Thus, the immediate source of energy to
heat the air is the surface of the earth. The daily cycle of radiation and air temperature is
shown in Figure AT.1.

Figure AT.1 Daily Cycle of Radiation and Temperature

Solar radiation increases after sunrise to a

maximum at noon and then decreases to a
minimum at sunset. Outgoing radiation
increases after sunrise but lags somewhat
behind the insolation curve. The graph for
air temperature follows the same pattern as
that of outgoing radiation. This should seem
reasonable as it is the absorption of
outgoing energy from the surface that
determines air temperature. The amount of
time between maximum incoming energy
and maximum temperature over the day is
known as the daily temperature lag.
A similar type of lag occurs on an annual basis. The seasonal lag of temperature is the
amount of time between the highest incoming insolation and highest temperature on an
annual basis. For instance, in the midlatitudes the highest angle that the sun makes with
the surface, and thus the most intense heating, occurs around June 22nd. It isn't until about
a month later that the highest temperatures occur. The lag is often longer near a large body
of water like the Great Lakes or the ocean. A temperature lag of two months is not
uncommon for places located near large bodies of water.
Figure AT.2 Cloud effects on radiation

Courtesy NASA Earth Observatory (Source)

Clouds have an impact on the radiation

balance and air temperature of a place.
Clouds can block incoming solar radiation
by reflection of their tops. Clouds also act
to diffuse light as it penetrates towards the
surface. Both of these would act to cool the
atmosphere. Clouds and water vapor are
good absorbers of longwave radiation
emitted by the earth's surface too. You've
probably noticed that the warmest
evenings tend to be when we have a heavy
cover of clouds. These clouds absorb the
radiation emitted by the earth and radiate
it back down toward the earth's surface,
warming the air. The coldest evenings
occur during cloudless conditions. The lack
of clouds in the desert creates large daily
temperature ranges. During the day,
sunlight streams to the earth's surface
heating it to very high temperatures. Near surface air temperatures are very high as a
result. At night, the absence of clouds allows emitted longwave radiation to escape to space
causing the surface to cool and the air above to do so as well.
The atmosphere is also heated by the exchange of sensible heat between the surface and
the air above. Sensible heat is transferred into the air by conduction and convection. Heat is

most efficiently moved by turbulent eddies, or swirls of vertically moving air. The initial
transfer is due to the presence of a temperature gradient between the surface and the air. If
the surface of the earth is warmer than the air above, heat will be transferred upwards
raising the temperature of the air. If the air is warmer than the surface, heat will be
transferred towards the surface, thus cooling the air. The lag of temperature behind
incoming radiation is also a result of the time it takes for sensible heat to transferred
upwards.

Air Temperature, Water Bodies and Continentality

Air temperature is greatly affected by the location of a place relative to a large body of
water. The impact of continental location on weather and climate characteristics of a place is
called "continentality". Air temperature near or over bodies of water is much different
from that over land due to differences in the way water and land heat and cool. Properties
that effect water temperature are:

Transparency
Allocation of Q*
Ability to circulate
Specific heat

Figure AT.3 Land - Sea Contrasts

Water is a transparent medium and land is opaque. Water allows light to penetrate to depth,
leaving the surface layers cooler than they would be if the surface was opaque. A cooler
water surface results in cooler air temperatures above. When solar radiation strikes land,
the energy is absorbed in a thin layer that heats relatively rapidly. Likewise, it readily gives
up its heat to the atmosphere.
When radiant energy is absorbed by land, most of the net radiation is used for sensible heat
transfer or ground heat transfer, only small amounts are used for latent heat transfer. As
sensible heat transfer into the air is the dominant heat transfer, air temperatures increase
over the land. Over water, much of the net radiation is used for evaporation. With little
energy used for sensible heat transfer, air over water remains cooler than that over land.

Being a fluid, water is able to freely circulate. Surface water that has been warmed by the
sun can mix with cooler water at depth, thus keeping the body of water cool. Land can not
circulate warmer surface layers with cooler ones below, resulting in high surface
temperatures and higher air temperatures than these over water.
Finally, the specific heat of water is higher than that of land. Specific heat is the amount of
energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of substance through one degree
Celsius. Water has a specific heat that is five times greater than land. This means that it
takes five times more energy to heat one gram of water than one gram of land. So if
adjacent land and water receive the same amount of insolation, the water will warm much
slower than land, and give up its heat much more slowly than land.

Figure AT.4 Comparison of seasonal temperatures for three midlatitude sites

Combining the above differences between the heating of land and water, a few observations
can be made. First, air temperatures are usually lower over a water surface than over
adjacent land. As this cooler maritime air comes ashore, air temperatures over land will be
reduced. Because the water's temperature doesn't fluctuate as much as that of land,
temperature ranges are smaller over water and coastal locations than those in the interior.
Finally, seasonal temperature lags are longer, by about a month, for coastal locations than
their interior counterparts. These temperature characteristics are shown in Figure AT.4
above. San Francisco, being located on the west coast of the United States, is influenced by
the moderating effect of the Pacific Ocean. Wichita is in the center of the country is
controlled by the thermal characteristics of land. Norfolk on the east coast is influenced by
both the westerly winds from the continent and the moderating influence of the Atlantic
Ocean. Thus the west coast location has the smallest temperature range (and longest
seasonal lag), the interior location has the largest temperature range and the east coast
location a moderate range.

Air Temperature and Air Mass Movement

If radiation was the only cause of temperature at a place, the daily and seasonal cycle of
temperature would be very regular and exhibit the temporal pattern discussed earlier. The

movement of large air masses across the surface can drastically change all this. The
movement of a very cold air mass into a region can drop temperatures during the day when
we expect the highest temperatures. Or if a warm air mass streamed over us at night, we
might experience the highest temperature of the past 24 hours during the evening hours
rather than during the daytime.
An air mass is vast pool of air, covering thousands of square kilometers, having about the
same humidity and temperature characteristics over its horizontal extent. Air masses are
classified based on the temperature and humidity at their source region. Sources for air
masses may be either oceanic or continental. Those that are oceanic tend to be moist while
continental air masses are typically dry. Latitudinally, air masses form near the equator, in
the subtropical zones, "polar" regions, and the Arctic and Antarctic. Most people think of the
polar regions as those being located at the pole. For air masses, the polar source region is
approximately 60 degrees north or south latitude. Combining the type of surface and
latitude we derive a classification for the different kinds of air masses. A few are listed below
and their geographic origin is shown in Figure AT.5. We'll deal with air masses in more detail
when we investigate weather systems.

Maritime Tropical (mT)

o Originates over the tropical oceans
o

Warm and Moist

Continental Polar (cP)

o

Originates over high latitude continents (about 60 degrees

north)

Cold and dry

Maritime Polar (mP)

o

Originates over mid to high latitude oceans.

Cool and moist

Figure AT.5 Global air mass source regions

Influence of air masses on temperature at a place.

Figure AT.6 Air masses affecting North America.

(Click image to enlarge)

The influence that air masses have on the temperature of a place depends the location with
respect to the source of the air mass and the trajectory of the air mass as it moves from
its source region. For instance, if one is located in the heart of an air mass source region,
your climate will be fairly uniform throughout the year. If you lived in north central Canada
you are located in the heart of the continental polar air mass (cP). You should expect
temperature to be cool to cold, and the humidity relatively low throughout much of the year.
However, if you live in central Illinois, you will experience a much greater variation in
temperature because you are in the boundary zone between several different air masses.
Two air masses in particular influence this region, cP and mT. The cP air brings cool, dry
weather while mT air is responsible for humid and warm conditions. When these air masses
collide, storms are generated.

Global Patterns of Air Temperature

Global patterns of air temperature are a reflection of the relative importance of the factors
discussed in the preceding sections. Isotherms, or lines connecting points of equal air
temperature are used to map the spatial pattern of temperature.

Latitudinal Patterns (north to south patterns)

The first thing to note on January and July temperature maps is the spacing and linearity (or
lack thereof) of the isotherms. Overall, isotherms in the southern hemisphere tend to be
more linear or run straight across the map. In the Northern Hemisphere the isotherms tend
to be more wavy, dipping far to the south or north depending on season and location. This
pattern reflects the impact of land-sea contrasts on the heating of the air. The southern
hemisphere is a more uniform surface, mostly water. Where there is land, isotherms take
sudden swings over the surface. The northern hemisphere has much more land surface and
the configuration of the isotherms reflect it. Isotherms dip far to the south in January as
cold temperatures occupy the continental interiors and coastal locations stay more mild
being influenced by the ocean.
The values of the isotherms validate our general conception of the distribution of world
temperatures. Low latitudes that experience the highest sun angles throughout the year
have the highest air temperatures. The highest temperatures occur in the tropical and
subtropical deserts of North Africa, Australia, and the southwestern portion of the United
States. Because the angle of the sun doesn't vary much during the year and day length is
about the same, annual temperature ranges tend to be small, on the order of only a few
degrees. However, daily temperature ranges can be quite large as pointed out earlier in the
module.
High latitude locations have much lower annual temperatures as the sun never gets directly
overhead and sun angles are quite a bit lower than those in low latitudes. However, the
seasonal temperature range is large. Cold air masses penetrate south dropping air
temperatures during the winter months. During the summer, warm tropical air masses
stream toward higher latitudes raising temperatures. The movement of air masses and more
varied sun angles results in larger temperature ranges than one experiences in the low
latitudes.

Longitudinal Patterns (west to east patterns)

Longitudinal patterns of temperature reflect the influence of continentality and ocean

circulation. Let's examine the longitudinal temperature patterns one sees in the
midlatitudes of North America. In the mid-latitudes the prevailing wind direction is from
west to east. Places located along the coast receive a constant influx of oceanic air
throughout the year. Because oceans don't change their temperature much during the year,
the air above them doesn't change much either. When the oceanic air streams on to land,
temperatures tend to be rather mild.
The changes in air temperature one experiences as you travel from west to east across a
midlatitude continent largely reflect the influence of continentality. The temperature range
along the west coast of North America tends to be small due to the constant influx on
oceanic air. Temperature extremes increase as distance from the coast increases. In the
interior of the North American continent, warm air masses from the Gulf of Mexico work
their way northward, especially during the summer. During the winter, cold continental polar
air masses dominate. The great difference in the temperature of these two air masses
results in a large temperature range. Air masses moving to the east from the interior tend
to be warm, but the proximity to water keeps air temperatures mild giving east coast
locations moderate ranges of temperatures.
Table AT.1 West - East comparison of Annual Temperature Range

City
San Francisco, CA

Dodge City, KS
Atlantic City, NJ

January Temperature

July Temperature

9.6oC (49.3oF)

16.2oC (61.1oF)

-.4oC (31.3oF)

26.1oC (79oF)

0oC (32oF)

23.8oC (74.84oF)

Temperature Range
6.6oC (11.8oF)

26.5oC (47.7oF)
23.8oC (42.8oF)

Air Temperature
Review
Use the links below to review and assess your learning. Start with the "Important Terms and
Concepts" to ensure you know the terminology related to the topic of the chapter and
concepts discussed. Move on to the "Review Questions" to answer critical thinking questions
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Important Terms and Concepts

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