THE DIURNAL TEMPERATURE VARIATION OF THE LOWER STRATOSPHERE OVER THE UNITED STATES

Abstract

From about five years (1952 to 1956) of radiosonde data over the United States, taken by fifteen radiosonde stations that had been conducting four observations a day, the mean temperatures at the four observational hours were obtained separately for winter and summer at the 200-mb, 150-mb, 100-mb, and 50-mb levels of the stratosphere. At each season and level (except the 50-mb level in winter), a diurnal temperature variation was detected by plotting these mean temperatures for all the stations on one diagram against their appropriate local times of observations. After all the physical factors or errors in observations that might induce or influence the observed diurnal temperature variation were carefully examined, it was estimated that about one quarter of the observed variation was real and the rest of it due to radiation error in observation.