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temperature of the soil surface—Temperature at the soil–atmosphere interface.
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temperature province—A major division of C. W. Thornthwaite's 1931 schemes of climatic classification, determined as a function of the temperature-efficiency index or the potential evapotranspiration.In the 1931 system, six main temperature provinces (climates) are distinguished: 1) tropical; 2) mesothermal; 3) microthermal; 4) taiga; 5) tundra; and 6) frost. In the 1948 system they are 1) megathermal; 2) mesothermal; 3) microthermal; 4) tundra; and 5) frost. Compare climatic province; see humidity province.
Thornthwaite, C. W., 1931: The climates of North America according to a new classification. Geogr. Rev., 21, 633–655.
Thornthwaite, C. W., 1948: An approach toward a rational classification of climate. Geogr. Rev., 38, 55–94.
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temperature range—The difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures or between the highest and lowest mean temperatures during a specified time interval, for example, daily, monthly, or seasonal.
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temperature–salinity curve—(Abbreviated T–S curve.) Given measurements at a single location of T(z) and S(z), oceanographers often plot T(z) versus S(z), showing the depth dependence only parametrically. The main reason for doing this is that water masses generally are characterized by their location on the T–S plane, and so can be identified by plotting a T–S curve.
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temperature-sensing element—That part of a thermometric instrument that is directly affected by its thermal state. Thus, in a resistance thermometer, the resistor is the temperature-sensing element.
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temperature zone—Very generally, a portion of the earth's surface defined by relatively uniform temperature characteristics, and usually bounded by selected values of some measure of temperature or temperature effect. All of the following may be considered “temperature zones”: A. Supan's 1879 hot belt, temperate belt, and cold cap; W. Köppen's 1936 tropical rainy climates, temperate rainy climates, snow forest climates, and polar climates; C. W. Thornthwaite's 1931 temperature provinces. It is occasionally used for a vertical subdivision of thermal belts in mountainous terrain. See also mathematical climate, solar climate.
Supan, A., 1879: Die Temperaturzonen der Erde. Petermanns Geog. Mitt., 25, 349–358.
Köppen, W. P., and R. Geiger, 1930–1939: Handbuch der Klimatologie, Berlin: Gebruder Borntraeger, 6 vols
Thornthwaite, C. W., 1931: The climates of North America according to a new classification. Geogr. Rev., 21, 633–655.
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