The dry-bulb temperature (DBT) is the temperature of air measured by a thermometer freely exposed to the air but shielded from radiation and moisture. DBT is the temperature that is usually thought of as air temperature, and it is the true thermodynamic temperature. As a matter of fact, it indicates the amount of heat in the air and it is directly proportional to the mean kinetic energy of the air molecules. Temperature is usually measured in degrees Celsius (°C), Kelvin (K), or Fahrenheit (°F).
Unlike wet bulb temperature, dry bulb temperature does not indicate the amount of moisture in the air. In construction, it is an important consideration when designing a building for a certain climate. Nall called it one of "the most important climate variables for human comfort and building energy efficiency."
DBT is indeed an important variable in Psychrometrics, being the x-axis of the Psychrometric chart.
Famous quotes containing the word temperature:
“This pond never breaks up so soon as the others in this neighborhood, on account both of its greater depth and its having no stream passing through it to melt or wear away the ice.... It indicates better than any water hereabouts the absolute progress of the season, being least affected by transient changes of temperature. A severe cold of a few days’ duration in March may very much retard the opening of the former ponds, while the temperature of Walden increases almost uninterruptedly.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)