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A temperature gradient is a physical quantity that describes in which direction and at what rate the temperature changes the most rapidly around a particular location. The temperature spatial gradient is a vector quantity with dimension of temperature difference per unit length. The SI unit is kelvin per meter (K/m). Temperature gradients in the atmosphere are important in the atmospheric sciences (meteorology, climatology and related fields). A temperature gradiometer or thermal gradiometer is a scientific instrument (a gradiometer) for measuring temperature gradients.

Assuming that the temperature T is an intensive quantity, i.e., a single-valued, continuous and differentiable function of three-dimensional space (often called a scalar field), i.e., that

$T=T(x,y,z)$

where x, y and z are the coordinates of the location of interest, then the temperature gradient is the vector quantity defined as

$\nabla T=\left(\begin{array}{c}\frac{\partial T}{\partial x},\frac{\partial T}{\partial y},\frac{\partial T}{\partial z}\end{array}\right)$

• Atmospheric temperature for gradient of Earth's atmosphere
• Geothermal gradient
• Gradient
• Lapse rate
• Weak temperature gradient approximation

• Edward N. Lorenz (1967). The Nature and Theory of the General Circulation of the Atmosphere. Publication No. 218. Geneva, Switzerland: World Meteorological Organization.
• M. I. Budyko (1978). Climate and Life. International Geophysics Series. Vol. 18. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-139450-6.
• Robert G. Fleagle; Joost A. Businger (1980). An introduction to atmospheric physics. International Geophysics Series. Vol. 25. Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-260355-9.
• David Miller (1981). Energy at the surface of the earth : an introduction to the energetics of ecosystems. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-08-095460-8.
• John M. Wallace; Peter V. Hobbs (2006). Atmospheric Science: An Introductory Survey. Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-08-049953-6.

• IPCC Third Assessment Report
• Pictorial Representation of Temperature Gradient (Tools).