Download Notes: Temperature Inversion EQ: Explain where temperature

Notes: Temperature Inversion
EQ: Explain where temperature inversions come from and why they are important.
I. Background
A. Air mass: an immense body of air that has similar temperatures and
amounts of moisture at any given altitude
B. Front: the boundary between two air masses
C. Warm Front: area where warm air moves in on an area covered by cold
air
D. Cold Front: area where cold air moves in on an area covered by warm air
II. Temperature inversion: areas where the normal decrease in air temperature
with increasing altitude is reversed and air above the ground is warmer than
the air below it
A. Causes
i. air near the ground rapidly loses its heat on a clear night
ii. upwelling
iii. Topography can cause cold air to flow from mountain peaks down into
valleys.
iv. significant snow cover
B. Effects
i. Traps pollution
ii. hazy skies
iii. sunsets are very red
iv. mirages
v. clouds just below spread out and flatten