outside air temperature


outside air temperature

[′au̇t‚sīd ′er ‚tem·prə·chər] (meteorology) indicated air temperature

outside air temperature (OAT)

The temperature of the air outside an aircraft measured by a probe with a cockpit gauge readout. The OAT affects the measurement of the indicated air speed, and its value is needed to calculate the true air speed. At high speeds, kinetic heating demands correction to the indicated OAT for true outside air temperature.