Altitudinal distribution of temperature in Jammu province: A Geospatial approach

The micro-climates, generally defined as climates concerned with small areas, have vertical distribution at anyone location and horizontal distribution over given small areas [1]. The GIS applications have made it feasible to study the microclimates in a geographical perspective, in a way acting as a bridge between meteorological data and geographical data [5]. The Jammu region located in the domain of northwest Himalayas has tremendous diversity of micro-climates extending over an altitude of 263-6000m. The mean annual temperature here shuttles between 15°C and 24°C and isotherm of 15°C is mainly confined in the mountainous tract, 20°C in the hilly and sub-mountainous tract, 22°C in the plains and 24°C in the Kandi belt. The extreme temperature records shows high diurnal ranges especially during the transition period between summers and winters.