Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Air mass. In meteorology, an air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and humidity. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adapt to the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to latitude and their continental or maritime source regions.
The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere of Earth. It contains 80% of the total mass of the planetary atmosphere and 99% of the total mass of water vapor and aerosols, and is where most weather phenomena occur. [ 1] From the planetary surface of the Earth, the average height of the troposphere is 18 km (11 mi; 59,000 ft) in the ...
Atmospheric circulation. Atmospheric circulation is the large-scale movement of air and together with ocean circulation is the means by which thermal energy is redistributed on the surface of the Earth. The Earth's atmospheric circulation varies from year to year, but the large-scale structure of its circulation remains fairly constant.
The Hadley cell, also known as the Hadley circulation, is a global-scale tropical atmospheric circulation that features air rising near the equator, flowing poleward near the tropopause at a height of 12–15 km (7.5–9.3 mi) above the Earth's surface, cooling and descending in the subtropics at around 25 degrees latitude, and then returning ...
A mesoscale convective system ( MCS) is a complex of thunderstorms that becomes organized on a scale larger than the individual thunderstorms but smaller than extratropical cyclones, and normally persists for several hours or more. A mesoscale convective system's overall cloud and precipitation pattern may be round or linear in shape, and ...
One factor that contributes to the creation of a concentrated polar jet is the undercutting of sub-tropical air masses by the more dense polar air masses at the polar front. This causes a sharp north-south pressure (south-north potential vorticity ) gradient in the horizontal plane, an effect which is most significant during double Rossby wave ...
Definition and terminology. A tropical cyclone is the generic term for a warm-cored, non-frontal synoptic-scale low-pressure system over tropical or subtropical waters around the world. [ 4][ 5] The systems generally have a well-defined center which is surrounded by deep atmospheric convection and a closed wind circulation at the surface. [ 4]
Convergence zone. Mesoscale sea breezes in Cuba converge from both coasts to form lines of cumulus. A convergence zone in meteorology is a region in the atmosphere where two prevailing flows meet and interact, usually resulting in distinctive weather conditions. [ 1] This causes a mass accumulation that eventually leads to a vertical movement ...