the dry-bulb temperature is the temperature indicated by a thermometer exposed to the air in a place sheltered from direct solar radiation. the term dry-bulb is customarily added to temperature to distinguish it from wet-bulb and dew point temperature. in meteorology and psychrometrics the word temperature by itself without a prefix usually means dry-bulb temperature. technically, the temperature registered by the dry-bulb thermometer of a psychrometer. the name implies that the sensing bulb or element is in fact dry. wmo provides a 23-page chapter on the measurement of temperature.