line drawn on a map or chart joining points with the same temperature. Isotherms are commonly used in meteorology to show the distribution of temperature at the Earth's surface or on a chart indicating constant level or constant pressure. They are also used to show the time variation of temperature with height in the atmosphere or with depth in soil or water; the characteristics of heat flow into soil, for example, are easily visualized from a graph showing temperature as a function of depth and time. A convenient way to compare thermal climates is to plot the temperature for each location as a function of time of day (vertical axis) and time of year (horizontal axis).