| \(A\) | surface or cross-sectional area (\(m^2\)) |  | 
| \(a\) | altitude angle of the sun (degrees) (subscripts: s, for normal to a slope; c ,for the axis of a cylinder); solar absorptivity (proportion) (subscripts: \(l\), lizard thermal absorptivity; \(s\), lizard solar absorptivity) |                                                                          |
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| \(Acondfact\) | proportion of the animal surface area that is in contact with the ground |  | 
| \(Agradfact\) | proportion of the animal projected area exposed to radiation from the ground |  | 
| \(air_{pressure}\) | air pressure (kPa) |  | 
| \(aran\) | scale performance value for performance curve? if aran = 0, no scaling; if aran = 1, includes a thermodynamic effect on mean performance |  | 
| \(breadth\) | breadth of the thermal performance curve |  | 
| \(c\) | specific heat capacity (subscripts: \(a\), air; \(p\), air at constant pressure; \(so\), soil) (\(J kg^{-1}K^{-1}\) or \(J kg^{-1}{°C}^{-1}\)) |  | 
| \(CT\) | critical thermal limit (\(°C\)) (subscripts: min, minima; max, maxima), the lower and upper temperature limit for performance |  | 
| \(D\) | characteristic dimension (\(m\)); thoracic diameter (\(cm\)) |  | 
| \(d\) | thickness of material (\(m\)); diameter of a cylinder (\(m\)) |  | 
| \(day\) or \(doy\) | day of year |  | 
| \(deg\) | angle (degrees) |  | 
| \(depth\) | depth (\(cm\)) |  | 
| \(e\) | water vapor pressure (\(N m^{-2}, mbar\)) (subscripts: \(a\), of the air; \(s\), at saturation) |  | 
| \(ef\) | enhancement factor, used to adjust convective heat transfer coefficient to field conditions |  | 
| \(elev\) | elevation above mean sea level (\(m\)). |  | 
| \(F\) | view factor between the animal and radiation stream (dimensionless) (subscripts: \(a\), atmospheric radiation; \(d\), diffuse solar radiation; \(g\), ground thermal radiation; \(r\), reflected solar radiation) |  | 
| \(g_{a}\) | a shape factor for soil particles | | | 
| \(H_L\) or \(H\) | convective heat transfer coefficient (\(W m^{-2}{°C}^{-1}\) or \(W m^{-2}K^{-1}\)) | |  | 
| \(h\) | height (\(m\)); length of a cylinder (\(m\)); relative humidity (decimal fraction); Planck’s constant (\(J s\)); hour angle (rad) | | | 
| \(hp\) | mean month relative humidity (percentage) |  |
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| \(hour\) | hour (0-24) |  | 
| \(K\) | thermal conductance (\(W m^{-2}{°C}^{-1}\)) (subscripts f, fur; g, substrate; s, skin; sf, skin and fur; o, overall heat conductance for an animal; c, surface boundary layer for convection; so, soil). |  | 
| \(k\) | von Karman’s constant (dimensionless), k~0.41 |  | 
| \(k_{so}\) | soil thermal conductivity (\(W m^{-1}K^{-1}\) or \(W m^{-1}C^{-1}\)) |               |
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| \(K_t\) or \(kt\) | clearness index, the ratio of the global solar radiation measured at the surface to the total solar radiation at the top of the atmosphere (dimensionless) |  | 
| \(L\) | Monin-Obukhov length (\(m\)), a measure of the instability of heat flow |  | 
| \(l\) or \(L\) | length (\(m\)) |  | 
| \(lon\) | longitude (degrees) |  | 
| \(lat\) | latitude (degrees) |  | 
| \(LDT\) | lower developmental threshold (\(°C\)) |  | 
| \(lw\) | downward flux of near-infrared radiation (\(Wm^{-2}\)) |  | 
| \(m\) | mass (\(kg\) or \(g\)); air mass (dimensionless) |  | 
| \(P\) | monthly precipitation (\(mm\)) |  | 
| \(psa\) | proportion surface exposed (dimensionless) (subscripts: \(air\), for exposure to air; \(ref\), for exposure to ground; \(dir\), for exposure to sky or enclosure; \(g\), for exposure to substrate) |  | 
| \(Q_{abs}\) | solar and thermal radiation absorbed (\(W\)) |  | 
| \(Q_{emit}\) | thermal radiation emitted (\(W\)) |  | 
| \(Q_{conv}\) | energy exchange between an animal and the surrounding substance due to convection (\(W\)) |  | 
| \(Q_{cond}\) | energy exchange between an animal and the surface due to conduction (\(W\)) |  | 
| \(Q_{met}\) | energy emitted due to metabolism (\(W\)) |  | 
| \(Q_{evap}\) | energy emitted due to evaporative water loss (\(W\)) |  | 
| \(r\) | reflectance (decimal fraction) (subscripts: \(g\), of ground; \(S\), to direct sunlight; \(s\), to skylight); diffusion resistance to water vapor (\(s m^{-1}\)) (subscripts: \(b\), boundary layer; \(i\), internal or intercellular); resistance to heat flow (\(s m^{-1}\)) (subscripts: \(h\), \(ha\), boundary layer; \(j\), diffusion resistance to molecular species j; radius (\(m\)) (subscripts: \(b\), of inside body wall of animal; \(r\), of outer surface of animal) |  | 
| \(rad\) | angle (radians) |  | 
| \(raz\) | solar azimuth angle (degrees) |  | 
| \(S\) | amount of sunlight incident upon the earth’s surface (\(W m^{-2}\)) (subscripts: \(dir\), direct solar radiation; \(dif\), diffuse solar radiation; \(h\), on a horizontal surface; \(ref\), reflected solar radiation) |  | 
| \(shade\) | whether soil temperature is calculated in the shade or not |  | 
| \(shift\) | mode of the thermal performance curve |  | 
| \(skew\) | skewness of the thermal performance curve |  | 
| \(sol.elev\) | solar elevation angles (degrees) |  | 
| \(SSA\) | solar absorptivity of soil surface (proportion) |  | 
| \(svl\) | lizard snout vent length (\(mm\)) |  | 
| \(t\) | time (\(hr\) or \(s\)) (subscripts: \(as\), after sunset; \(n\), time of minimum temperature; \(r\), sunrise; \(s\), sunset; \(p\), rise the following day; \(x\), time of maximum temperature) |  | 
| \(T\) | temperature (\(°C\) or \(K\) or \(°F\)) (subscripts: \(a\), air; \(g\), ground; \(s\), surface; \(sh\), shade; \(sky\), effective radiant temperature of the sky) |  | 
| \(T_{dewpoint}\) | dewpoint temperature (\(°C\)) |  | 
| \(T_{e}\) | Operative environmental temperature (\(°C\)) |  | 
| \(T_{max}\) | maximum temperature of the day (\(°C\)) |  | 
| \(T_{min}\) | minimum temperature of the day (\(°C\)) |  | 
| \(Tg_{max}\) | maximum soil surface temperature of the day (\(°C\)) |  | 
| \(Tg_{min}\) | minimum soil surface temperature of the day (\(°C\)) |  | 
| \(T_{opt}\) | thermal optima, the temperature at which peak performance occurs (\(°C\)) |  | 
| \(T_{soil0}\) | initial soil temperature (\(°C\)) |  | 
| \(tolerance\) | maximal breath (\(°C\)) of the thermal performance curve |  | 
| \(u\) | wind speed (\(m s^{-1}\)) (subscripts: \(r\), reference height or heights) |  | 
| \(UDT\) | upper developmental threshold (\(°C\)) |  | 
| \(V\) | volume (\(m^{3}\)) | |  | 
| \(water_{content}\) | water content (percent) |  | 
| \(x\) | vector of volume fractions of soil constituents (e.g., clay, quartz, minerals other than quartz, organic matter, water, air) |  | 
| \(z\) | distance, or height above a surface (\(m\)) | |  | 
| \(zr\) | reference height (\(m\)) |  | 
| \(z0\) | roughness height (\(m\)) |  |