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Air Mass Formation
Name: Sarah
Status: N/A
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
How is an air mass formed?
Replies:
Sarah,
Warm air masses originate to the south and cold air masses
originate to the north.
Cold air masses typically form because there is less solar
radiation where they form, near the Earth's poles. This
usually occurs when there are no clouds; energy is lost from the
Earth's surface at night, cooling the air. In the winter, snow
cover near the poles reflects sunlight away during the day,
thereby not allowing the Earth to warm. If this is repeated
for several days and nights in a row, the air can cool considerably
over a large area.
Warm air masses tend to form in areas nearer the equator or
over extensive desert areas such as the southwestern USA, where
there is greater solar radiation. In clear to partly cloudy
conditions the Sun warms the Earth, and the energy is radiated to
the atmosphere, warming it. In desert areas the air temperature
can become very high, expanding the warm air mass tremendously.
Many of our western and plains states droughts are caused by this
process.
At the equator the temperature can also become very high, partially
because of high solar radiation, but also because the relative
humidity is high; the large amount of water vapor in the air
absorbs much of the energy radiated by the Earth, warming the air.
David R. Cook
Meteorologist
Climate Research Section
Environmental Science Division
Argonne National Laboratory
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Update: June 2012
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