A plasma jet of a dielectric barrier discharge in coaxial electrode was used to produce jet plasma in flowing work gas (argon mixed with trace nitrogen) at atmospheric pressure. The relation between the plasma length and the gas flow rate was obtained by taking the images of the jet plasma. A high-resolution optical spectrometer was used to collect the optical emission spectrum. The emission spectra of the first negative band of N+2(Ｂ　２Σ＋ｕ→Ｘ　２Σ＋ｇ, 390～391.6 nm) were used to estimate the rotational temperature of the plasma plume by fitting the experimental spectra to the simulated spectra. The gas temperature was investigated by this optical method and results show that the gas temperature increases with increasing the applied voltage. For comparison, a thermometer was used to measure the temperature of the gas emitted from the jet. The results also show that the gas temperature increases with increasing the applied voltage. The gas temperatures obtained by the two methods are consistent. The difference was analyzed.