Accumulated thermal unit
An accumulated thermal unit is a unit of measurement used to describe the cumulative effect of temperature over time. 1 ATU is equal to 1 degree Celsius for 1 day. For example, in an environment at a constant temperature of 5 °C, 5 ATU would accumulate per day, with 65 ATUs accumulated after 13 days.
Accumulated thermal units are used, for example, in
salmonid
eggs. Eggs incubated at 10 °C develop twice as fast as eggs incubated at 5 °C.
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