A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature records for 90 years

Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by dpkingma on Friday July 09, 2021 @02:30PM (#27786868)

Death Valley prides itself on being the hottest place on earth, based on the temperature record of 54.0 °C (air temp at 1.5m).

However, DV does not come out on top when looking at temperatures measured by satellites (EDIT: ground temperature, and less reliable.) From Wikipedia [1]: "The highest recorded temperature taken by a satellite is 66.8 °C (152.2 °F), which was measured in the Flaming Mountains of China in 2008. Other satellite measurements of ground temperature taken between 2003 and 2009, taken with the MODIS infrared spectroradiometer on the Aqua satellite, found a maximum temperature of 70.7 °C (159.3 °F), which was recorded in 2005 in the Lut Desert, Iran. The Lut Desert was also found to have the highest maximum temperature in 5 of the 7 years measured (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2009). These measurements reflect averages over a large region and so are lower than the maximum point surface temperature." According to [2], the record is 80.8 °C at Lut Desert.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highest_temperature_recorded_o... [2] https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/aop/BAMS-D-2...

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by bcrosby95 on Friday July 09, 2021 @04:05PM (#27787938)

You're comparing apples to oranges though. The 54.0 reading in Death Valley was measuring the temperature of the air - in particular, 1.5 meters above the ground. Satellites measure ground temperature - as in, temperature at the ground. Lots of things can affect ground temperature.

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by tablespoon on Friday July 09, 2021 @04:48PM (#27788312)

> You're comparing apples to oranges though. The 54.0 reading in Death Valley was measuring the temperature of the air - in particular, 1.5 meters above the ground. Satellites measure ground temperature - as in, temperature at the ground. Lots of things can affect ground temperature.

Exactly. I have a radio thermometer in my attic whose readings max out at 140°F. During the summer it's regularly maxed out, so the actual air temp is hotter still (and the actual surface temp of the roof must be even hotter than that). Outside air temp is nowhere near any of those temps.

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by dpkingma on Friday July 09, 2021 @04:20PM (#27788073)

True, edited original comment to reflect this.

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by jandrese on Friday July 09, 2021 @03:59PM (#27787878)

Death Valley: The hottest place on Earth where people can survive long enough to keep a temperature station manned.

I am confused how 66.8C can be "the highest recorded temperature taken by a satellite", while the Aqua satellite found a maximum temperature of 80.8C.

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by phaemon on Friday July 09, 2021 @04:02PM (#27787915)

Imagine I was measuring the temperature in your home. I measured above your grill. Is that a good average for your home temperature?

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by jandrese on Friday July 09, 2021 @04:13PM (#27788007)

It doesn't say highest average measurement, it says highest recorded temperature. Plus, there is a 70.7 average measurement listed as well.

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by exporectomy on Friday July 09, 2021 @09:45PM (#27790417)

You're right, it doesn't need to be an average. Meteorologists are interested in outdoor air temperature in the shade, away from local disturbances like buildings and the ground. That way it's not influenced by uninteresting local effects like the color of the walls, direct solar heating (affected by the properties of the thermometer itself) or somebody turning the oven on.

That 70.7 degrees from the satellite was ground temperature, not air temperature, so it can't be compared.

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by ngngngng on Friday July 09, 2021 @04:07PM (#27787960)

I once set my oven to 350F, does that mean my house holds the record?

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by jandrese on Friday July 09, 2021 @04:14PM (#27788022)

Did you measure it from a satellite?

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by phaemon on Friday July 09, 2021 @04:11PM (#27787985)

Not even close. What do you reckon the highest temperature was achieved in a house?

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by AlexCoventry on Friday July 09, 2021 @05:45PM (#27788885)

I heard the tungsten filament in old-fashioned light bulbs can reach 2800K.

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by a9h74j on Friday July 09, 2021 @07:10PM (#27789541)

And LEDs can now reach 5000K :)

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by ThePowerOfFuet on Saturday July 10, 2021 @02:14PM (#27795294)

That's colour temperature, not actual temperature.

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by seanp2k2 on Sunday July 11, 2021 @05:08PM (#27804543)

https://www.hisour.com/correlated-color-temperature-24475/

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by quickthrowman on Friday July 09, 2021 @08:52PM (#27790130)

A tungsten filament can reach 4500 degrees Fahrenheit

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Re:A simple mistake that stuffed up world temperature record... by rovr138 on Friday July 09, 2021 @04:17PM (#27788046)

Forest fires have burnt houses. That's visible from space too.

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