ABSTRACT
What is temperature, and more specically, what is soil temperature? Temperature is a measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules of a substance. As kinetic energy increases, the temperature increases. At the macroscale, temperature is a physical property that determines the direction of heat ¥ow between two substances in thermal contact. Heat ¥ows from high temperature to low temperature. Temperature is not a measure of heat content. In order to specify the heat content of a particular substance (e.g., soil), both the heat capacity and the temperature must be known.
