We all know that the inhabitants of the globe live in completely different climatic zones. That is why with the onset of cold weather in one hemisphere, warming begins in the other. Many go on vacation to bask in the sun in other countries and do not even think about the annual temperature range. How to calculate this indicator, children will learn from the school bench. But with age, often just forget about its importance.
Definition
Before you calculate the annual temperature amplitude according to the graph, you need to remember what this definition is. So, the amplitude, in itself, is defined as the difference between the maximum and minimum values.
In the case of calculating the annual temperature, the amplitude will be the readings of the thermometer. For the accuracy of the results, it is important that only one thermometer is used at all times. This will allow you to independently determine the graph of the course of temperatures in a particular region. How to calculate the annual amplitude in climatology? Experts use for this the average readings of monthly temperatures forpast years, so their figures always differ from those calculated independently for their locality.
Factors of change
So, before calculating the annual amplitude of air temperature, you should take into account several important factors that affect its performance.
First of all, this is the geographical latitude of the required point. The closer the region is to the equator, the smaller the annual fluctuation of the thermometer will be. Closer to the poles of the globe, the continents feel the seasonal change of climate more strongly, and, consequently, the annual temperature amplitude (how to calculate - later in the article) will increase proportionally.
Also, the proximity of the region to large water bodies also affects the indicators of air heating. The closer the coast of the sea, ocean or even a lake, the milder the climate, and the change in temperature is not so pronounced. On land, the temperature difference is very high, both annual and daily. Of course, air masses often coming from the sea can change this situation, as, for example, in Western Europe.
The amplitude of temperatures also depends on the height of the region above sea level. The higher the desired point is, the smaller the difference will be. With each kilometer, it shrinks by approximately 2 degrees.
Before calculating the annual temperature amplitude, seasonal climatic changes must also be taken into account. Such as monsoons or droughts.
Calculation of daily amplitude
Perform such calculations everythe owner of the thermometer and free time can independently. To get the best accuracy for a particular day, you should record the thermometer every 3 hours, starting at midnight. Thus, from the obtained 8 measurements, it is necessary to select the maximum and minimum indicators. After that, the smaller is subtracted from the larger, and the result obtained is the daily amplitude of a particular day. This is how specialists conduct calculations at weather stations.
It is important to remember the elementary rule of mathematics that a minus times a minus equals a plus. That is, if the calculations are carried out in the cold season, and the daily temperature ranges from positive during the day to negative at night, then the calculation will look something like this:
+5 - (-3)=5 + 3=8 – daily amplitude.
Annual temperature range. How to calculate?
Calculations to determine annual fluctuations in thermometer readings are carried out in a similar way, only the average readings of thermometers of the hottest and coldest months of the year are taken for the maximum and minimum values. They, in turn, are calculated by obtaining average daily temperatures.
Getting the average reading
To determine the average readings for each day, you need to add all the readings recorded for a given period of time into a single number, and divide the result by the number of added values. The maximum accuracy is obtained by calculating the average from a largernumber of measurements, but most often it is enough to take data from a thermometer every 3 hours.
Similarly, data on average temperatures for each month of the year are calculated from the already calculated average daily indicators.
Calculation implementation
Before determining the annual amplitude of air temperature in a particular region, you should find the maximum and minimum average monthly temperature. It is necessary to subtract the smaller from the larger, also taking into account the rules of mathematics, and consider the result obtained as the same desired annual amplitude.
Importance of indicators
Besides calculating air temperature for various geographic purposes, temperature difference is also important in other sciences. Thus, paleontologists study the vital activity of extinct species by calculating the amplitudes of temperature fluctuations in entire epochs. To do this, they are helped by various soil samples and other thermography methods.
Exploring the work of internal combustion engines, experts define periods as certain time intervals that make up fractions of seconds. For measurement accuracy in such situations, special electronic recorders are used.
In geography, temperature changes can also be recorded in fractions, but this requires a thermograph. Such a device is a mechanical device that continuously records temperature data on tape or digital media. He also definesamplitude of changes, taking into account the set time intervals. Such precise instruments are used in areas where human access is closed, for example, in nuclear reactor areas, where every fraction of a degree is important, and it is necessary to constantly monitor their changes.
Conclusion
From the foregoing, it is clear how the annual temperature amplitude can be determined, and why these data are needed. To facilitate the task, experts divide the atmosphere of the entire planet into certain climatic zones. This is also due to the fact that the temperature spread across the planet is so wide that it is impossible to determine an average indicator for it that would correspond to reality. The division of the climate into equatorial, tropical, subtropical, temperate continental and maritime, allows you to create a more realistic picture, taking into account all the factors affecting temperature indicators in the regions.
Thanks to this distribution of zones, it can be determined that the temperature amplitude increases depending on the distance from the equator, the proximity of large water bodies and many other conditions, including the period of the summer and winter solstices. Interestingly, depending on the type of climate, the duration of the transitional seasons, as well as the peaks of hot and cold temperatures, also change.
