Abstract: Unlike the vehicle loading upon the conventional road pavement structure, the port pavement structure is characterized by many types of shipping mechanical loads, heavy load carrying capacity, low operating speed and having no more repetition frequency of the vehicle loading. According to the port asphalt pavement design criteria， based on the tensile strain at the bottom of the surface course， the tensile stress at the bottom of the semi-rigid course， the compression strain on the top of the subgrade and Miner damage superimposed principle， conception and calculation method of the equivalent temperature for the port asphalt pavement surface course are introduced in this study. Regression formulas among the standard equivalent temperatures for the surface course， the altitude of the asphalt pavement located， pavement surface average temperature and its standard deviation over the years are established. To be simple and practical， the regression formulas between the equivalent temperature for the surface course and two common meteorological parameters, annual average temperature and difference of the highest and lowest monthly average temperature, are established. The contour maps in China of the equivalent temperatures for the surface course are drawn. Finally， the influence rules of various factors on the equivalent temperatures for the surface course are summarized and an approximate modified formula is given.