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Wind Notes
Pre-Work: Define heat budget and draw a
diagram of the Earth’s heat budget.
Air & Sea Interdependency
• Atmosphere & ocean are an
interconnected system.
• A change in the atm. affects the ocean &
vice versa.
The Heat Budget
• Heat Budget = gains & loses in heat on Earth.
• Earth needs to lose as much heat back to
space as it receives from the sun or the
Earth’s climate will change.
Solar radiation is not distributed
equally on the Earth.
Solar radiation is most intense between
Tropic of Cancer and
23 ½˚N latitude (_____________)
Tropic of Capricorn
23 ½˚S latitude (_______________).
equator
It is the most intense at the ______.
There are 2 reasons for that:
1. Light rays are more perpendicular toward
the middle of the Earth, so sunlight is
more concentrated in that area.
2. Light has a
shorter distance
to travel
through the
atmosphere at
lower latitudes.
Air Pressure is the vertical movement of air in a
convection current. It is how hard the air is
pushing down on Earth.
P = Pressure
WARM air is less dense, so it rises, so….. LOW P
MOIST air is less dense, so it rises, so…. LOW P
COLD air is more dense, so it sinks, so…… HIGH P
DRY air is more dense, so it sinks, so……… HIGH P
Wind is the horizontal movement of air in
a convection current & is created when…
Cooler Air
(high P)
Cooler Water
wind
Hot Air
(low P)
Hot Sand
1. Low Pressure (warm/moist air rises).
2. Cool/Dry air whooshes in to replace
the warm/moist air. This is the wind.
5 Main Rules
1. Air takes on the characteristics of the surface
that it’s over.
2. Air Pressure is the up or down movement of air.
Wind is the horizontal movement of air.
3. Warm, moist air = Rises = Low Pressure
Cold, dry air = Sinks = High Pressure
4. Wind always blows from High P to Low P.
5. Winds are named for where they come from.
Local Winds
Winds that affect a small area.
Also caused by the unequal heating
of the earth.
2 Main Types: Sea Breeze
Land Breeze
Sea Breeze
During the day, air
over land heats up &
rises. Cool air from
the sea moves in to
take its place.
Land Breeze
At night, air over the
sea is warmer & rises.
Cooler air from the
land moves in to take
its place.
Monsoons
Large scale sea & land breezes that occur in
coastal areas of extreme temp. changes over the
seasons.
Winter Monsoon – a winter-long Land Breeze = dry season.
Summer Monsoon – a summer-long Sea Breeze = rainy
season.
Would Hawaii have monsoons? Why/Why not?
Measuring Wind
Wind Vanes
Anemometers
• measures wind
direction
• measures wind
speed