Wisconsin-Minnesota degree day calculator
Degree Day Definitions
WI-MN Cooperative Extension Agricultural Weather Page
Simple (or rectangular) method:
where Tmin and Tmax are the farenheit daily min and max temperatures respectively, and Tbase is the lower, or base threshold temperature in farenheit. Note that the upper, or cap threshold is not used, but that negative degree day values are not allowed.
Modified rectangular method:
where temperatures are as described above.
Pday method:
where temperatures are as described above.
Sine method: This method is described in the University of California leaflet 21373, "Degree-Days: The Calculation and Use of Heat Units in Pest management" (1983). It involves fitting a sine curve through the minimum and maximum temperatures and then calculating the area under the curve. Additional information can be found at the UC Davis IPM website.
where temperatures are as described above.
For further information on this page,
contact Bill Bland at the Dept. of Soil
Science, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison
Bill Bland, wlbland@facstaff.wisc.edu
