Sensible heat is in contrast to
latent heat, which is the amount of heat exchanged that is hidden, meaning it occurs without change of temperature. For example, during a phase change such as the melting of ice, the temperature of the system containing the ice and the liquid is constant until all ice has melted.
Latent heat and
sensible heat are complementary terms. The sensible heat of a
thermodynamic process may be calculated as the product of the body's mass (
m) with its
specific heat capacity (
c) and the change in temperature (\Delta T): : Q_\text{sensible} = m c \Delta T \, . Sensible heat and latent heat are not special forms of energy. Rather, they are exchanges of heat under conditions specified in terms of their effect on a material or a thermodynamic system. In the writings of the early scientists who provided the foundations of
thermodynamics,
sensible heat had a clear meaning in
calorimetry.
James Prescott Joule characterized it in 1847 as an energy that was indicated by the thermometer. Both sensible and latent heats are observed in many processes while transporting energy in nature. Latent heat is associated with changes of state, measured at constant temperature, especially the
phase changes of atmospheric water, mostly
vaporization and
condensation, whereas sensible heat directly affects the temperature of the atmosphere. In meteorology,
sensible heat flux is the conductive heat
flux from the Earth's surface to the
atmosphere. It is an important component of Earth's surface energy budget. Sensible heat flux is commonly measured with the
eddy covariance method. ==See also==