Definition
A condition in which the use of a Baro-VNAV approach procedure is restricted because the outside air temperature is below the published minimum (or above the published maximum) temperature for that procedure. Outside this range, the barometric altimetry used to compute the vertical path produces errors large enough that the procedure may not be flown using Baro-VNAV vertical guidance.
Plain English
The approach can only be flown using its built-in vertical guidance when the air temperature is inside a specific range. If it's too cold or too hot, the vertical path calculation isn't reliable, so that method can't be used.
Context Anchor
Seen on instrument approach procedures that use Baro-VNAV, especially near notes that give a minimum and maximum airport temperature for using the vertical guidance.
Derivation
From 'temperature' (the measured warmth or coldness of the air) plus 'limited' (restricted, bounded). Together: the procedure's usability is bounded by temperature. Worth noting because barometric altimeters assume a standard atmosphere, and large temperature deviations make the indicated altitude diverge from the true altitude — which is why temperature, of all things, becomes the limit.
Why Pilots Care
Below the limit the pilot must abandon Baro-VNAV vertical guidance and use step-down minima or another approach to preserve required obstacle clearance.
Grounding Statement
Baro-VNAV depends on pressure-based altitude, and unusual temperatures can make that pressure-based vertical path differ from the real path through the air.
Intuition Check
Do not read temperature limited as meaning the airplane is limited by engine heat or cabin temperature. Here it means the procedure’s Baro-VNAV guidance is limited to a specific outside-air temperature range at the airport.
Example Sentence 1
The approach was temperature limited, so with the field reporting minus 20 degrees Celsius — well below the chart's minimum — the crew briefed the LPV minimums instead.
Example Sentence 2
Before starting the Baro-VNAV descent we confirmed the temperature placed us outside the temperature-limited range.