Abstract
Equivalent temperature (TE), which incorporates both dry (surface air temperature, T) and moist heat content associated with atmospheric moisture, is a better indicator of overall atmospheric heat content compared to T alone. This paper investigates the impacts of different types of air masses on TE during the growing season (April–September). The study used data from the Kentucky Mesonet for this purpose. The growing season was divided into early (April–May), mid (June–July), and late (August–September). Analysis suggests that TE for moist tropical (MT) air mass was as high as 61 and 81 °C for the early and mid-growing season, respectively. Further analysis suggests that TE for different parts of the growing seasons were statistically significantly different from each other. In addition, TE for different air masses was also statistically significantly different from each other. The difference between TE and T (i.e. TE-T) is smaller under dry atmospheric conditions but larger under moist conditions. For example, in Barren County, the lowest difference (20–10 °C) was 10 °C. It was reported on 18 April 2010, a dry weather day. On the other hand, the highest difference for this site was 48 °C and was reported on 11 August 2010, a humid day.
Highlights
Air temperature or dry-bulb temperature has widely been used in atmospheric research to understand weather and climate variability and change. e.g., [1]
Pielke Sr. [10] has shown that a 1 ◦ C dew point temperature increase is equivalent to a 2.5 ◦ C increase in air temperature and atmospheric moisture plays an important role in the calculation of atmospheric heat content
The assessment of climate variability and change has largely focused on air temperature as the primary metric [1]
Summary
Air temperature or dry-bulb temperature has widely been used in atmospheric research to understand weather and climate variability and change. e.g., [1]. We suggest that, in addition to air temperature, equivalent temperature (TE ) can be used for more accurate measurement of atmospheric heat content since TE represents both dry and moist heat [3,4,5,6,7,8]. In other words, this measure provides a more accurate representation of the near-surface energy budget. Subsequent research provided additional evidence of the role of atmospheric moisture in atmospheric heat content or TE calculation [5,7]
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