Temperature gradient along the northern slope of the Western Rhodopes

Abstract

The article examines the values of the vertical temperature gradient along the northern slope of the Western Rhodopes Мountain. The average monthly temperatures in three stations located between 290 and 1535 m a.s.l. were used as the basis of the calculations. Calculations were made for the following temperature indicators: monthly average, average minimum and average maximum, and absolute minimum and absolute maximum. The study covers the period July 2022 – August 2023. The values of the vertical temperature gradient are greatest in the summer and smallest in the autumn-winter period. In the lower part of the studied territory, in winter the gradient also has negative values, due to temperature inversions, and in summer its values are three times greater than in the upper part, due to the greater turbulence of the atmosphere.