Ground frost

Example of comb formation due to expanding pore water

In meteorology, ground frost is the (mostly nocturnal) drop in temperature to less than 0 ° C at a height of 5 cm above the ground .

A temperature below 0 ° C does not necessarily have to be measured at the official measuring height of 2 m, ground frost is not a criterion for frost days .

Ground frost can be caused by the sinking of cold air close to the ground and particularly by nocturnal heat radiation (colloquially heat radiation or radiation) when there is no cloud cover . In soils that are susceptible to frost, the surface of the soil can be raised by frost lift, which typically results in ice lenses forming in the soil .

The longer the ground frost lasts, the greater the frost penetration depth . In some areas, for example agriculture or construction, and also colloquially, “ground frost” also generally stands for frozen ground with a ground temperature of below 0 ° C.

Ground frost can damage plants that are sensitive to frost and, due to slipperiness, impair road traffic and the construction industry .

See also

• Permafrost
• Frost bake
• Bald frost

Web links

Wiktionary: Bodenfrost  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} ground frost. In: Glossary. German Weather Service, accessed on February 2, 2018 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Beate Varnhorn (Ed.): Bertelsmann: The new universal lexicon . 2006, keyword Bodenfrost , p. 118 .
3. ^ Weather lexicon . ( wetter.de [accessed on April 11, 2017]).