Abstract: Present research on variation characteristics of temperature in orchard only carried out with short-term observation and during apple growing season. The long-term observation and study on the variation characteristics of temperature during different growth phases for orchard, and comparative studies between the inside and outside orchard temperature changes were not even reported. In order to study the temperature variation characteristics of inside and outside orchard during different growth stages for apple orchard atWeibei dry highland, Shaaxi Province, China, from 2011 to 2013, positioning observe for canopy temperature, tree temperature, air temperature at different height levels and soil temperature in different depths both inside and outside the orchard was carried out with microclimate gradient automatic determination system, which were further compared with the temperature factors in the contrast plot. Results show that: the diurnal variation of temperature inside and outside both showed unimodal type; time of canopy temperature reaching maximum was the same as that outside orchard; time of air temperature and tree body temperature of inside orchard reaching maximum delayed 1-2 h than that outside orchard; soil temperature inside the orchard reached the highest at 10 cm depth, and changed consistently with the temperature outside the orchard at other depths. Air temperature, canopy temperature, daily range of soil temperature was the highest during the initial stage of growth and was the lowest during dormancy stage. Tree body temperature diurnal variation was the highest during the initial stage of growth and the lowest during fruit-set period. Air temperature difference between inside and outside orchard was the largest during fruit-set period with a difference value of 3.0℃. Air temperature inside the orchard during night time is higher than that during day time. Canopy temperature inside the orchard is higher than that outside the orchard during day time, which was the most remarkable characteristic during initial stage of growth. Canopy temperature was lower than that outside the orchard during night time, which is the most remarkable characteristic during fruit-set period with a difference value of 15.0℃. Difference of tree body temperature between inside and outside orchard was the highest during initial stage of growth at 7.0℃ and lowest during fruit-set period. Soil temperature inside the orchard was lower than that outside the orchard from 12:00 AM to 10:00 PM during initial stage of growth and fruit-set period, but soil temperature inside the orchard is higher than that outside during dormancy stage.

Key words: Weibei dry highland, apple, orchard, temperature