EARTH TEMPERATURE AND THERMAL DIFFUSIVITY AT SELECTED STATIONS IN THE UNITED STATES
Abstract
To provide information related to the heat transfer in underground installations, 63 sets of data showing annual variations of monthly average earth temperatures at various depths throughout the 48 contiguous states of the United States of America have been compiled and analyzed for the Office of Civil Defense. These data were used to compute the annual average amplitude and phase angle of the earth temperature by a least-squares method. Thermal diffusivities of earth computed from the observed temperature data by both the amplitude method and phase lag method were compared for selected earth temperature stations. The monthly average earth temperature at depth intervals of two feet to a depth of 10 feet and the annual maximum and minimum integrated average temperatures in this region were calculated for each station for a selected value of thermal diffusivity using the results of the least-squares analysis. Annual average values of earth temperature and the amplitude and phase angle of the annual cycle of earth surface temperature were compared with the corresponding values of air and ground water temperatures.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0472916
Entities
People
- P. R. Achenbach
- T. Kusuda
Organizations
- National Institute of Standards and Technology