COMPARISON OF 3 METHODS OF CALCULATING AIR-TEMPERATURE FROM ELECTRONIC MEASUREMENTS

Data was collected on air temperature every 20 minutes using a YSI 44036 thermistor with a Lakewood data logger at three stations in different climatic and latitudinal situations. Mean daily air temperature was calculated from the data in three ways, viz.: dividing the total of 72 readings by 72 (the integration method), adding the minimum and maximum temperatures and dividing by 2 (the International Standard), and adding the 0800 and 1700 hour readings and dividing by 2. The integration method provides a lower reading for most monthly and yearly data, and there are substantial differences (up to 7 degrees C) for mean daily air temperatures calculated by different methods. These are largest in winter and least in summer. Differences increase with continentality and the integration method clearly gives a more accurate measure of heat flux and climatic change, and should be calculated along with the minimum-maximum average for automated stations.