The ambient temperature is used in determining the amount of rise experienced by a buoyant plume.

The vertical temperature difference is used in calculating plume rise under stable atmospheric conditions, and is also used in determining Monin-Obukhov length, a stability parameter.

Sensors used for monitoring ambient temperature include: wire bobbins, thermocouples, and thermistors housed in Stevenson screen. Platinum resistance temperature detectors (RTD) are among the more popular sensors used in ambient monitoring; these sensors provide accurate measurements and maintain a stable calibration over a wide temperature range. The RTD operates on the basis of the resistance changes of certain metals, usually platinum or copper, as a function of temperature. These two metals are the most commonly used because they show a fairly linear increase of resistance with rising temperature.