Ground surface temperature as a function of slope angle and slope orientation and its effect on the subsurface temperature field

Variations of the mean annual ground surface temperature (GST) extrapolated from 7 temperature-depth profiles measured in boreholes located in a fores t in the Krusne Hory Mountains, Czech Republic, were related to the elevati on and the slope attitude (angle and orientation) of the surface. A two-dim ensional Linear fit of the GSTs to the annual sum of the total sun radiatio n (obtained from the slope angle and orientation) and to the elevation yiel ds factors of 0.0040 degrees C/(kWh m(-2) year(-1)) and -0.0040 degrees C/m , respectively. The last factor is close to the value of -0.0047 degrees C/ m found by Kubik (1990) as the lapse rate of the annual soil temperature at a depth of 50 cm for the former Czechoslovakia. The GST variability due to the slope attitude amounts up to 1.1 degrees C in the investigated data se t. Three-dimensional model calculations for a hilly terrain typical for the mountainous regions of Central Europe reveal appreciable differences in di stortion of the subsurface temperature field caused by considering or ignor ing the investigated GST dependence on the slope attitude. (C) 1999 Elsevie r Science B.V. All rights reserved.