Lesson 3:

Seasons and Daily Temperature

RENCES G. GARDOSE, MABio

Instructor I
Science Department
College of Arts and Science
Guimaras State College
McLain, Buenavista, Guimaras
 Overview:
• Ahrens and Henson (2019) said that earth
has seasons because Earth is tilted on its axis
as it revolves around the sun.
• The tilt of Earth causes a seasonal variation in
both the length of daylight and the intensity of
sunlight that reaches the surface.
• When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted
toward the sun, the Southern Hemisphere is
tilted away from the sun.
 Overview:
• Longer hours of daylight and more intense
sunlight produce summer in the Northern
Hemisphere, while, in the Southern
Hemisphere, shorter daylight hours and less
intense sunlight produce winter.
• In a more local setting, Earth’s inclination
influences the amount of solar energy
received on the north and south side of a hill,
as well as around a home.
 Overview:
• The daily variation in air temperature near
Earth’s surface is controlled mainly by the input
of energy from the sun and the output of
energy from the surface.
• The surface air cools at night, as long as heat
output exceeds input.
• When the air temperature in agricultural areas drops
to dangerously low readings, fruit trees and grape
vineyards can be protected from the cold by a variety
of means, from mixing the air to spraying the trees
and vines with water.
 Learning Objectives
 
Students must be able to:
 
1.Familiarize and describe the different seasons
occurring on Earth.
2.Compare and contrast the local seasonal variations.
3.Construct a table comparing different seasons and
seasonal variations occurring on earth.
4.Familiarize the different air temperature data and
apply learned concepts in real life situations.
 Occurrence of Seasons
• The average distance from Earth to the sun is
150 million km (93 million mi).
• Because Earth’s orbit is an ellipse instead of a
circle and is slightly off-center from the sun,
the actual distance from Earth to the sun
varies during the year.
• Earth comes closer to the sun in January (147
million km) than it does in July (152 million
km).
 Occurrence of Seasons
• The elliptical path of Earth about the sun
brings Earth slightly closer to the sun in
January than in July.
 Occurrence of Seasons
• Sunlight that strikes a surface at an angle is
spread over a larger area than sunlight that
strikes the surface directly.
• Oblique sun rays deliver less energy (are
less intense) to a surface than direct sun rays.
Occurrence of Seasons
Occurrence of Seasons
Occurrence of Seasons
 Occurrence of Seasons
• Because Earth travels more slowly when it
is farther from the sun, it takes Earth a
little more than 7 days longer to travel from
March 20 to September 22 than from
September 22 to March 20.
Occurrence of Seasons-Local
Seasonal Variations
• Higher temperatures usually mean greater
rates of evaporation and slightly drier soil
conditions.
• Thus, south-facing hillsides are usually
warmer and drier as compared to north-
facing slopes at the same elevation.
Occurrence of Seasons-Local
Seasonal Variations
• In many areas of the earth, only sparse
vegetation grows on south-facing slopes,
while, on the same hill, dense vegetation
grows on the cooler, moister slopes that
face north.
 Occurrence of Seasons-Local
Seasonal Variations
• In northern latitudes, hillsides that face south
usually have a longer growing season.
• Since air temperatures normally decrease
with increasing height, trees found on the
cooler north-facing side of mountains are
often those that usually grow at higher
elevations, while the warmer south-facing
side of the mountain often supports trees
usually found at lower elevations.
 Applications of Air
Temperature Data
• The heating degree day is based on the
assumption that people will begin to use their
furnaces when the mean daily temperature
drops below 65°F.
• Therefore, heating degree days are
determined by subtracting the mean
temperature for the day from 65°F.
• Thus, if the mean temperature for a day is
64°F, the heating degree day for this day is 1.
 Applications of Air
Temperature Data
• Knowledge of the number of cooling degree
days in an area allows a builder to plan the
size and type of equipment that should be
installed to provide adequate air conditioning.
• Also, the forecasting of cooling degree days
during the summer gives power companies a
way of predicting the energy demand during
peak energy periods.
 Applications of Air
Temperature Data
• A composite of heating plus cooling degree
days gives a practical indication of the
energy requirements over the year.
• Farmers use an index called growing
degree days as a guide to planting and for
determining the approximate dates when a
crop will be ready for harvesting.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• Thermometers were developed to measure
air temperature. Each thermometer has a
definite scale and is calibrated.
• A very common thermometer for measuring
surface air temperature is the liquid-in-glass
thermometer.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• A section of a maximum thermometer (left); A
section of minmum thermometer showing
both the current air temperature and the
minimum temperature in °F.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• Maximum and minimum thermometers are
liquid-in glass thermometers used for
determining daily maximum and minimum
temperatures.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• Maximum and minimum thermometers are
liquid-in glass thermometers used for
determining daily maximum and minimum
temperatures.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• Maximum and minimum thermometers are
liquid-in glass thermometers used for
determining daily maximum and minimum
temperatures.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• Highly accurate temperature measurements
can be made with electrical thermometers.
• One type of electrical thermometer is the
electrical resistance thermometer. This
does not directly measure air temperature;
rather, it measures the resistance of a wire,
usually platinum or nickel, whose resistance
increases as the temperature increases.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• . An electrical meter measures the resistance
and is calibrated to represent air
temperature. Electrical resistance
thermometers are the type of thermometers
used in the measurement of air temperature
at more than 900 fully automated surface
weather stations that exist at airports and
military facilities throughout the United
States.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• The instruments that comprise the ASOS
system. The max-min temperature shelter is
the middle white box.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• Thermistors are another type of electrical
thermometer.
• made of ceramic material whose resistance
increases as the temperature decreases.
• A thermistor is the temperature-measuring
device of the radiosonde—the instrument
that measures air temperature from the
surface up to an altitude near 30 kilometers.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• thermocouple. operates on the principle that
the temperature difference between the
junctions of two dissimilar metals sets up a
weak electrical current.
• When one end of the junction is maintained at
a temperature different from that of the other
end, an electrical current will flow in the
circuit. This current is proportional to the
temperature difference between the junctions.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• Air temperature can also be obtained with
instruments called infrared sensors, or
radiometers
• Do not measure temperature directly; rather,
they measure emitted radiation (usually
infrared).
• measuring both the intensity of radiant energy and the
wavelength of maximum emission of a particular gas,
radiometers in orbiting satellites are now able to obtain
temperature measurements at selected levels in the
atmosphere.
 Measuring Air Temperature
• The thermograph with a bimetallic
thermometer.
 Summary
• The seasons are caused by Earth being tilted
on its axis as it revolves around the sun. The
tilt causes annual variations in the amount of
sunlight that strikes the surface as well as
variations in the length of time the sun shines
at each latitude.
• During the day, Earth’s surface and air above
will continue to warm as long as incoming
energy (mainly sunlight) exceeds outgoing
energy from the surface.
 Summary
• At night, Earth’s surface cools, mainly by
giving up more infrared radiation than it
receives—a process called radiational
cooling.
• The coldest nights of winter normally occur
when the air is calm, fairly dry (low water-
vapor content), and cloud-free.
 Summary
• The highest temperatures during the day and
the lowest temperatures at night are normally
observed at Earth’s surface.
• Radiation inversions exist usually at night
when the air near the ground is colder than
the air above.
 Summary
• Farmers use a variety of techniques to
protect crops or fruit from damaging low
temperatures, including heating the air,
mixing the air, irrigating, and spraying water
onto trees in below-freezing weather.
Thank You for your
kind attention!