Jim Macklin wrote:

On a clear night, the ground cools by radiation (IR) and the
air is cooled by conduction to the ground. Inversions are
common.

Late one very clear night last year, I was flying back to Syracuse, NY, and
the temperature at 10,000 feet was around -5 Celsius.

As I started to descend for the approach, the cabin of the aircraft got
noticeably colder (I didn't have the heat on). When I retrieved the ATIS
for the airport, the temperature on the ground was a -25 Celsius. This
was one of the more extreme examples of an inversion I have experienced.


--
Peter