I'd appreciate it if someone would take the time to help an ignorant soul understand how a non-physical boundary such as the interface between the land surface and the atmosphere can have a temperature. It sure seems to me that you need some material in order to have a temperature, and such an interface seems to have none.
Jim Biard
Research Scholar
Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites
Remote Sensing and Applications Division
National Climatic Data Center
151 Patton Ave, Asheville, NC 28801-5001
jim.biard at noaa.gov
828-271-4900
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On Jun 10, 2013, at 11:52 AM, Jonathan Wrotny <jwrotny at aer.com> wrote:
> Dear Jonathan Gregory,
>
> I have not yet replied to this e-mail yet from you...thanks for the information on the meaning of the various surface temperatures.
>
> Yes, the land skin temperature is actually different from the "surface_temperature" standard name since it corresponds to the skin, and not the interface, temperature. So, I do believe that an additional name will need to be added to account for this land analogue to "sea_surface_skin_temperature." Here is my current proposal:
>
> Standard Name: land_surface_skin_temperature
>
> Definition: The surface called "surface" means the lower boundary of the atmosphere. The land surface skin temperature is the temperature measured by an infrared radiometer, but measurements from microwave radiometers operating at GHz wavelengths also exist. It represents the aggregate temperature of the skin surface where ?skin? means the surface medium viewed by a sensor to a vertical depth of approximately 12 micrometers.
> Measurements of this quantity are subject to a large potential diurnal cycle which is primarily due to the balance between heating during the day by solar radiation and continual cooling from terrestrial (long-wave) radiation emitted by the skin surface.
>
> Canonical Units: K
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Jonathan
>
> On 6/7/2013 3:47 AM, Jonathan Gregory wrote:
>> Dear Jonathan W
>>
>>> If my interpretation of all of the surface temperature names is
>>> correct, then there may need to be a modification to the current
>>> definition of "sea_surface_temperature." In particular, this
>>> definition states "It is the temperature of sea water near the
>>> surface (including the part under sea-ice, if any), and not the skin
>>> temperature, whose standard name is surface_temperature." However,
>>> it seems to me that the "surface_temperature" is the
>>> atmosphere/medium interface temperature, and not the temperature of
>>> the medium below the interface (e.g. the skin temperature). So, I'm
>>> wondering if the above sentence in quotes incorrectly refers to the
>>> "surface_temperature" when perhaps it should refer to the
>>> "sea_surface_skin_temperature"?
>> Yes, I think you are right. This definition of sea_surface_temperature may
>> predate the introduction of sea_surface_skin_temperature. The SST is neither
>> the true interface temperature (for which the name is surface_temperature) nor
>> the "skin" temperature, but a bulk temperature applying to a rather ill-defined
>> upper layer of the ocean. There isn't a land analogue for SST.
>>
>> If land skin temperature is different from surface_temperature of the
>> interface, a new name is needed for it, I agree.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Jonathan
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Received on Mon Jun 10 2013 - 10:30:24 BST
