Muli-Cal Tandersors. - 20 The SuperCol anerstor cn Tropical Tdesons. oa Parad. sooeeas (CHAPTER 7- TURBULENCE. Desmrnors - : 1 Turbulence 1 Cha Fable 2 1 Winds ~ - 2 Chasing the Seri of Table 3 “Teovans, Contd AND DIVERGENCE. & CATNeaKTONBERSTORS. nnn * “Tungutence NSE THUNDENSTORS ~ ° MicROBURSTS oenennnnrenencncnncn 3 Toranbos. re in ‘Worn vn ai Te ous LAER ary Sravoine waves “ 1 ‘Wak Den = erences CHAPTER B- ICING & POOR VISIBILITY. Rie 1 “ae ig a ‘eng x Co. = 5 Icing on Front = = 3 Packed Si 7 Glatt ie 2 Cirburotor on Piston Engine ints cng. 3 ‘revaing Vs. aaa aa ‘away Vial Rane. meets Comparison of Rade Visi: Is [RVR Reporting = 1 ation Fo. - 15 ‘The Sonthrn Cul wir. a ‘hac Fo : = a “rete She e ronal and Cir pe of Fo. = 0 indo. 0 (CHAPTER 9 PRESSURE SYSTEMS & AIR MASS WEATHER eon ANTICYCLONES O HG, a Warm Aon - Cott oncone Temporary Cold siycone. Gonral Proper of tcyelon ‘Cxcuonts, Lows on DeREsIONS = \Genral Properties of Depression: rogrephic Lav. 2 Thera Low Cold Lowe 2 upats, Hovis AND COLS. ————— Meteorology see 5 Contents 3has cir mas? 10 Polar arte 2 ‘rete Marine 2 = 3 ‘earning polar marie is Polar Cont. - 2 a5 Tropes! Martine 16 Tropa Connon 18 Colt ir Outbreak and Cid Poe. 9 CHAPTER 10- POLAR FRONT DEPRESSIONS nner “The Nowra ATLANTIC POLAR FRONT ee ee 1 ‘Mexsiring he Speedo front a “runnin ons Warne Sec70n POLAR FRONT Dams. : ‘ ‘Clout and Prepon s Pressure Toperare ono Level Winds io igh Loe Won. in Hazan At Ponts . ota Tein = 2 Tahun, 2 occ Ponts 2 . 2 Col ir Ontbre 1 WEATHER PATTERN cee a 1 The Polar Cline. 35 Sie 3 The Disturbed Temperate Clima. 40°43. 3 The Temperate Trontonal Chime, 140"Lattude 3 Te Arid ut Tope Clima 20° Laie 3 The Tepe Dratina lia, 120 Late. 3 The Egat! Zane, 10°10. 4 Tre Boreal Climate Zane 4 ¢ 7 The Mascon Clit. ‘sonra Am Tare aN TC Sin RAMURATUMES ores Ss cate nvem Ain onan = ‘Snrac Passi 8 Low Levee Winns : oo | The Ronan FRoxts — 2 Tierne7. et "he Equiv Dow Rains 16 ‘tomca Revouvina TORS n ‘Wis arnleas Towabos. “ - 21 Urn wis. = 2 ‘Monsoon ab Loca Seasonal Wins 24 The Wes can onan 2 Inia nd Far Bat, 2% (CHAPTER 12- MET PRACTICA “THe METFoROLOCACAL SeRVCE PreFigh Weather formation Darl dea Forecat Som ‘Special Roe Forecasts nigh Rene Weather nfrmation Iii Bring. ‘SIGMET Phenomena Meteorology Tssue 5 Contents 4@ ARAE Phenomena . 4 Stowe on ine caps a nF derodome Wester Imation _ : ni ‘rode Methr Wars. = ——< ‘Gener orig ‘ Marked Tempera nsron ‘ icra Otero. = + soir. ~ 7 MatARS TABS nSPéCis ~ 4 METARic en - io eat ai ns Wind. 3 Prewligviiiy 5 ‘awe Fal Roe io Weather nnn 0 Cloud z i avo 2 ‘tempor adden 2 2 ‘own — 2 even West. = a Windsor 2 Trend ~ come sng ro = a ‘Runway condon. a Fao Te = a 15 reat Ves S : 6 Weather 6 Goud ~ 6 Vina aaaig Probaiy. 2” dimen a ‘ther Gop — a Tempera : a degre ing ~ is Tt = s 13 SNOTAM = 19 ‘MSL Prsnre Char - 1 ct ao Meonas Lave Waste aNd WinbGiaRTS —ar ‘Slanfcan Weather Charts - 2 Maton Lee Stanfeon Wor Cha ~ 3 High Love Sinton Weather hart 36 Upper nd ad Tomperane Chart or sartreeuaces = Sh pes ofall So Inf edie. — 0 ne aes. — 3 cree be ase ~ ° wont Rabat ok “born Ra 2 ‘oun Wether = 3 Meteorotoay Issues Contents 5Intentionally Blank TesueS ContentsChapter 1 - The Atmosphere Jhroughout this Course we will be looking at the fundamental forces that drive the weather system, 80 ‘that you ean understand and predict what the weather will do at any time or place, given the basic data. The “weather” - the wind and rain, cloud and fog, heat and cold ~ is the visible result of the movement of energy through the lower atmosphere. Although forecasting small scale weather is very dificult, itis relatively easy to follow the rules that determine weather in the large scale, and to explain, for instance, why itis Fot and dry {in the Sahara or rainy in the Amazon basin. Figure 7.44 We shall sce in the chapters that follow how these rules are developed, and it will all come together in the sections on climatology. We start at the beginning, and look at composition fand structure of the atmosphere. Meteoroloay Tesue 5 rsThe Composition of the Atmosphere The atmosphere is a mixture of gases, including water vapour, which is light transparent gas, some solid particles like dust fand smoke and some water in its solid or iquid form which we see as clouds, mist or fog. If we leave out solids, water and ‘water vapour, and look only at dry air we find that the relative concentrations of the gases are constant in the lower layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, and we can lay dawn a bi mixture. Its ‘Nitrogen, No, rather over three quarters, 78% Oxygen, O>, less than one quarter, 21% + Carbon Dioxide, COs, Ozone, O,, and other gases 19% Remember these are percentages by volume in dry alr, Surprisingly, most of the gases are inert as far as the weather Js concerned, carrying only limited amounts of energy as hot or cold air. The three that play an important part in the weather are the very small percentages of carbon dioxide, azone and ‘water vapour. Water vapour, which carries large amounts of latent heat energy, averages 1% by volume but its concentration varies from zero to 4%. Most ofthe water vapour in the atmosphere is found at low altitudes and in areas of higher sir temperature, the tropics. While the short wave solar radiation penetrates the atmosphere with litle reflection or absorption on its way in, carbon dioxide and water vapour absorb the long wave radiation from the earth causing the so called “green house” elect Ozone is mainly concentrated in @ layer in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, where it plays a major part in absorbing harmful ultra-violet radiation fom the sun. Pressure Temperature and Density In the atmosphere there is a fixed relationship between temperate, pressure and volume. The general gas law Pressure x Volume = R x Temperature ‘Where R is a gas constant, for the gas or mix of gases we are dealing with. In meteorology, we are most concerned with the density of the atmosphere, so we need to do some shullling of the equation. Density is defined as the mass of a unit volume of a gas 20, for a fixed mass of ait, density is inversely ae Teeue 5 "Meteorology ‘Tho gas mixture down because of ed mixinAte density te proportional to Inversely proportional to proportional to volume, meaning that as the volurre goes up ‘he density goes down. We can rewrite the equation: 1 Pressure Volume ~ Rx Temperature and substituting Density for we get: 1 Voume Pressure Densiy « remperature Which says that density is directly proportional to pressure and inversely proportional to temperature. This means that at Constant temperature if the pressure goes down the density goes down, while at constant pressure if the temperature of the fir is higher its less dense. This relationship is crucial to the evelopment of vertical movement, called convection, in the ‘atmosphere, for sir warmer and therefore less dense than its Surroundings will rie and continue rising while air that is colder than its surroundings will snk. Pressure, which is @ force per unit area, is measured in bars ‘but meteorologists use the more convenient milibar, one ‘thousandth of @ bar, abbreviated to mb. ICAO use the hhectopascal {hPa}, one hundred pascals, which is happily exactly the same size asthe millibar. ‘The average pressure of the atmosphere at sea level over the whole world is 1013.25 millibars, or hectopascals. Pressure is measured by @ barometer, and the most common is the mercury barometer, figure 7-1-2 I you fil a closed column with mercury and invert tin a dish the mercury will stabilise at about 30 inches high. Axmospheric pressure is pushing on the bottom of the column but the top is flosed and the only pressure there will be the very small pressure from mercury vapour eflecively zero. The column is therefore held up by atmospheric pressure and, by measuring the height of the column, you can determine what that pressure is, With a suitable scale, you can read this height off es pressure {m millbars of in any other unit. You will recognice here the origin of the American way of giving barometric pressures in inches of mercury. Meteorology issue 5 13Figure 7.4.2 AA second type of barometer isthe aneroid barometer. This uses closed ‘evacuated (aneroid) capsule that expands and contracts under changing pressure. An altimeter, ultimately, Is fan aneroid barometer. You may occasionally also come acro references to barographs. A barograph is an aneroid barometer ‘that records changing pressure in graphical form, figure 7-1-3. Figure 7-433 ‘Temperature in meteorology is given in degrees Celsius or Centigrade (°C) where zero is the freezing point of water and 100 °C the boiling point of water at sea level pressure. For 14 Tesue S "MeteorologyMota ae tees dense than dry al emperature and ‘calculations in thermodynamics the equations only work out if you use the seale of Absolute temperature (°A) or Kelvin (K) in SI units. On this scale, although the degrees are the same size, Absolute gero is -273 °C, thus zero °A or K) is the same as 273°C, and 100 °C is 373° (or K) Density in meteorology is measured in grams per cubic metre On average, as we have sid, the pressure at sea level is 1013.25mb. The average temperature at sea level is 15°C or 288K. Using the correct gas constant for dry air, we get an average density of 12254sh/m°. Note hat i wales vapour is present in the mixture we will et @ lower density for the same Conditions of temperature and pressure. Water vapour has a fen level density of about 760gm/m, rather over half the density of the dry atmosphere, The Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere ‘The molecules of the atmosphere are attracted by the earth's ‘gravity and at any height above the earth, the pressure is proportional tothe mass of a above, ‘Thus the pressure in the Atmosphere is higher at low altitudes, and. therefore the density is higher too. The rate of change of pressure with beight is not linear. ct) Figure 744 Figure 7-1-4 gives typical values for pressure and height in the atmosphere. Upper air data is usually collected by a radiosonde, a balloon with an instrument pack that records, temperature, pressure and humidity information and radios it Meteorotoay Tues SOSC*«Sback to a ground station. Radar tracking of the balloon can give upper wind data as well. It is important to remember that pressure always falls with height and s0 does density. Differences in temperature in the atmosphere only allect the rate al which pressure and density fall; pressure and density fall more rapidly in cold air than in warm air as height increases, ‘This point is co fundamental to the understanding of the ‘behaviour of the weather system that itis worth repeating with anotner diagras. Figure 7-1-5 shows the pressure at height in two columns of ais, one warm and one cold, where the sea level pressure is the ‘same. At any chosen height, the pressure aloft in the warm air column is higher, and if you choose any pressure level ~ 700m Jn the diagram - it will be ata greater height above sea level in the warm air. Figure 745 You will need to be aware of some of the basic data relating ‘height to pressure in a standard atmosphere. In particular, in figure 7-1-6, memorise the height in fect against the 7OOmb, 00mb and 300mb levels and the feet per mb at ea level Teeue 5 Meteorology ‘means high pressure slo and cool air mass ‘eneraly means Tow pressure alot‘Sealovol | 1013m> 27k am Fo,000n 3,.088m | 700m 36% iim 78,00086,500m | 500m ae 5m 30,0008 9,100 | 300m Tat 2am "36,0008 1 600m | 200m “oat tm ~e.0008 17,700m | _100nb “est om ‘The numbers of feet per millibar given above are calculated from the approximate formula’ 967 (K) Feet per mb= Fo) If you are asked to solve problems relating to height and pressure at reasonably low level, for terrain clearance for example, and no figure is given to you, use lmb equal to 27ft {9m) as a good approximation. The Large Scale Atmosphere Up to this point we have looked at the composition of the atmosphere from the surface out to about 15k; we atill need some general knowledge of the bigger picture out to 100k, Figure 7-1-7 shows the large scale atmosphere — out to the edge of space, The lowest layer is called the troposphere, ‘meaning ‘the sphere of turning or mixing’, and ths is where ‘most of the weather occurs. ‘The troposphere also contains three quarters of the whole atmosphere by weight. In the troposphere the temperature generally falls with height until it reaches the tropopause. Above the tropopause, which on average is at about 11km, is the stratosphere. Inthe upper two thirds ofthe stratosphere is the ozone laver which ig critical to the weather patterns on earth. The temperature in the stratosphere stays constant just ‘above the tropopause then steadily increases as the ozone layer absorbs ultra-violet energy from the sun. In this way the ‘ozone layer shields us from damaging radiation. “Meteorology Tesw0 5 7xoepere Themoepere Mevehere ‘Stratopause Figure 74-7 The stratopause, at about SOkm, marks the boundary between the stratosphere and the mesosphere. Above the mesosphere Jie the thermosphere, also known as the ionosphere, and the exosphere. The atmosphere in the exosphere is $0 rarified that we would consider it to be space. The Space Shuttle orbit isin the exosphere, Variation of Tropopause Height with Latitude ‘The tropopause effectively marks the limit of vertical movement in the air, and therefore the upper limit of significant weather, and is in reality higher and colder than this average at the equator and lower and warmer at the poles ‘+ 26,0008 (8k) and -45 °C at the poles ‘+ 36,0908 (1 tke) and -56 °C at mid-latitudes ‘+ 52,5000 (16kr) and -75 °C at the equator 18 ~*«CWssueSS*S*S*S*S”:*C roy ‘Tho tropopause height the‘Tho tropopause beige vary ‘he mid atte a Figure 74-8 ‘The breaks in the tropopause shown in figure 7-1-8 reflect the positions of the polar and sub-tropical fronts, whieh we shall meet later, Variation of Tropopause Height with Season ‘The tropopause is usually higher where the mean troposphere temperature is higher and lower in lower temperatures. At the poles and at the tropics the troposphere temperature remains Foughly constant, winter and summer but at mé-latitudes ‘inter and summer temperatures differ significantly. ‘Typical tropopauise heights for Latitudes 30°, 50° and 70° in Summer and Winter are oe 30° ‘km, 52,0008 | 164m, 52,0008 50° +12km, 28,0008 ‘km, 29,000 70 9k, 20,0008 ‘km, 25,0008 Figure 7.49 “Meteorotosy Tesue 5 19‘The Standard Atmosphere ICAO has defined a standard atmosphere for instrument calibration purposes and as a benchmark for comparison. The Average values for sea level pressure, temperature and density ‘were taken as the starting point and the average change of emperature with height added on, ‘You have already seen the average pressure, temperature and ensity Sguses and the average change of temperature with height, the lapse rate, is 1.98 °C per thousand feet (6.5°C per 100m), up to a tropopause at 36,090f (11km) at -56.5 °C, when temperature remains constant to 65,617 (20kxn) before sing slowly again. Figure 7-1-10 gives the complete picture Figure 74-40 ‘To correct from ISA to the real world you have to work out the ISA Deviation, the difference between the calculated ISA value for temperature at a specific height and the real environmental temperature, the outside air temperature, OAT. ‘The OAT will be given to you, and you caleulate the ISA temperature by using a lapse rate of 2 °C per thousand feet ~ this will be close enough to get the right answer - and allowing for the fact that it starts at +15 °C, Thus your ISA temperature ISA = 15- (height in thousands of feet x 2) on: ISA = 15~ (height in km x 6.5) 440 TesueS—~SCS~*~*~*« roleTohelp you (are= (ann = Nautical Height However, wateh for the fact that the ISA temperaure above 36,0908 (I1km) and up to 65,8172 (20km) is constant at ‘minus 56.5°C. To find the deviation, check the dlflerence between ISA and the OAT. If the OAT is the higher ‘temperature, the ISA Deviation Is positive. Example) The OAT at F100 is -8 °C, What isthe ISA Deviation? Solution: ISA would be 15 - (10 x 2} = -5 °C. Tne OAT “8°C, a diference of 3". The OAT is colder, s the ISA Deviation I -3°C Altimetry Pressure Settings and @ Codes Figure 74-44 Ahimeters have a barometric setting control which can be ‘adjusted so that the altimeter reads heights abore differing datums. The three main datum settings are QFE isa reading of station pressure taken on en accurate barometer and adjusted for any difference in height between the barometer and the field eleva:on. If (QFE is set altimeters should read zero on the ‘ground at the airfield. QNH is the station pressure adjusted down to mean sea level (mel) using ISA values for the temperature between the station and msl. Since the allimeter iteelf uses ISA values for Ite internal calculations, an Meteorology Issues wataltimeter with QNH set should read station elevation fn the ground at the station OFF the station pressure adjusted down to msl using the actual station temperature in the calculation. ‘This i not set on aircraft altimeters, but used by the Meteorological Service as an accurate value for mst pressure. QFF isthe pressure displayed on surface lobar charts (QFE and QNH are available in various forms. Airfield QNH ‘applies at the airfield. Away from the airfield, a Regional QNH Is used. This is the lowest Torecast QNIH for the region for one hour ahead. Using the lowest of all the forecast QNH values ‘ves the maximum safety margin. Airfield QFE is the pressure at the highest point of the airfield surface ~ again giving the greatest safety margin and if the touchdown point of the instrument runway in use is significantly below the high point then a Touchdown QFE will also be given Finally, QNE is not a pressure setting at all, but is the touchdown height that wil be indicated on the altimeter if the Standard Setting, 1013mb, is set. In other words, it is the pressure altitude of the touchdown point. This procedure is tised at high airfields, like La Paz in Bolivia, where QFE would be too low a value to set on the altimeter subscale, Barometric Errors IF everything is correctly set you will then be measuring your height above the airfield if QFE Is in use, your altitude above msl if QNH is in use and your pressure altitude above the 1013mb pressure level if the Standard Setting is in use. Remember that a Flight Level is a pressure altitude given in hundreds of feet. If the wrong figure is set on the subscale the altimeter will ‘measure from a wrong datum, and the altitude indicated will not be the true altitude, This may happen if the aircraft parked and the pressure pattern changes or if you fly from one Dresstre pattern to another and do not reset your altimeter Barometric errors are particularly dangerous if you fy from high pressure to ow for'then the etmeter wl ves reads 12 Teaue 5 "MeteorologyFigure 74.42 Consider figure 7-1-12. An aircraft has the correct QNH set at point A and the altimeter indicates true altitude amal. Without Fesetting the subscale the pilot fies to point B, an area of low pressure. Because the QNH datum he has chosen is below sea level his true altitude is now less than his indicated altitude and his obstacle clearance is compromised. The mnemonic is: High to low, careful go Example: An aircraft is parked overni 1008mb set on the altimeter subscale. The following morning the correct QFE is given as 1002mb, Before the subscale is rese: and ‘assuming 27mb/M what will the altimeter read? a) +3208 fb) + 1608 () zero (a) “608 Solution: ‘The pressure diference is 6mb at 27ft/mb. The height difference willbe: 6x27 1620 Use the mnemonic, “high to low careful go" means the altimeter will over read. Anewer (b) Meteorology TasosSolution ‘An aircraft departs point Q at an altitude of 1500m with the QNH set at 1010mb. I arrives ‘over point R where the QNH is 990mb, and there is an obstacle 1000m high. Assuming ‘8m/mb what will be the obstacle clearance over RP Once again, the altimeter will he over reading. ‘The size ofthe barometric error will be 1010-990 = 20mb. ‘Atmal this equivalent to 20%8-~ 160m, ‘The aireraft true altitude will be 1500- 160 = 1340m and the obstacle clearance will be 340m, Im a similar way, aircraft true altitude can be found at any fiven Flight Leve i the QNH is known, QNH is the pressure at ml, s0 the difference between true altitude and flight level is the height difference between QNH and 1013mb. If no value is given assume 271/mb, Beample, ‘Solution 14 An aircraft is at FLA0, What is its true altitude FQNH is O98mb? QNH is at a lower value than 1013, s0 the aircraft true altitude will be less than its pressure altitude, The size ofthe difference will be 1013-998 ~ 15mb, ‘This is equivalent to an altitude error of 18x27 = 405R. ‘The aireraft true altitude is therefore 4000 - 405, son Teeue 5 Meteorology‘Temperature Error Even if the barometric settings on the altimeter are correct, true altitude will difer from indicated altitude if the temperature differs from the ISA values. It was explained earlier that in high temperature air masses any given pressure evel will be at a greater altitude than in cold ar masses. Altimeters measure pressure, so will show the same altitude at ‘the same pressure level respective of any temperature difference. Figure 7-1-13 illustrates the problem. Figure 7.443, In ISA temperature conditions the 700mb level i almost exactly 10,000K. In colder air, the 700mb level ~ which the fltimeter thinks is 10,0008 ~ is in reality much lower. In low temperatures, therefore, the altimeter over reads, and in high temperatures it under reads. This ie independent of barometric You may face a situation where you are fying from an area of high pressure to one of low pressure, where the barometric error wil make the altimeter over read, and at the sane time be flying into an area of high alr mass temperature, which wi ‘make the altimeter under read, The mnemonics for barometric ferrar apply in the same sense for temperature error. High Temperature to low temperature, altimeter over reads and vice verse, Therefore, if one of the errors is known to be present but the altimeter is reading the correct true height the other error is also present, but working in the opposite sense Meteorology ssu8 5 145‘Air mass temperature deviation from ISA makes no relative difference to height keeping for Air Traifie reasons, for all, ‘ircraft will have the same error, However, as you can see from figure 7-1-13, the absolute separation between pressure levels i reduced in cold air. This means that while there is a theoretical height separation between FL300 and FL310 of 1000ft in ISA conditions, the separation will be less in cold air and in warm aici will be greater. Its possible to calculate exactly the altitude correction for the ‘given air mass temperature. This is best done on a flight ‘computer, and 1s covered fully in the Instruments section of this course. There is, however, a “Rule of Thumb" approximation than can be quickly done. The ground rules are + Barometric error can be calculated separately, and should be dealt with fist. +The temperature correction applies to the band of atmosphere between the level where the altimeter reads correctly and the aircraft. This datuim level is ‘tation elevation for airfield QNH and touchdown for ‘QFE. With regional QNH you have no information on. Station levels, 0 we assume the datum level meen sa level ‘+ ISA deviation can be assumed to be the same at all heights ‘© Pressures are whole millbars rounded down, ‘That done, the calculation is that there will be a 4% height difference in true altitude from indicated altitude for every 10°C difierence in air mass temperature, that is for every 10°C of ISA temperature deviation Bxample: Barometric corrections show that at an indicated F150 the indicated altitude would be 449208 in ISA conditions. The air mass temperature js ISA minus 15°C. What is the true altitude? Solution: The Rule of Thumb correction is 1.54% x 4920 = 2958 ‘The air is colder than ISA, so the altimeter is lover reading, and the true altitude is 44920 - 295 = a6astt Le ‘Meteorology 494 of heght ‘every 10° of| temperature ‘iferenceNotice that the temperature correction hi been applied over ‘the fall height as we have assumed that the datum is at msl, Figure 74-14 Isa- 10 igure 7-1-14 illustrates calculations based on aifield QNH. (QNH is calculated from station pressure on the assumption that ISA conditions apply. In a cold air mass (ISA minus 10°C), fas in figure 7-1-14, this, produce an error equivelent to 4% fof station height for every 10°C dlflerence from ISA, as the Rule ‘of Thumb says, In cold conditions the actual pressure rise over 1000R down to msl will be greater than the calculated value, so the real pressure at msl ~ QFF — will be higher than QNH and the ‘mal will be above the true msl In these cold conditions the altimeter would everywhere under read by the height of the false msl, 4% of station elevation However, the altimeter will at the same time over read by a temperature error equivalent to 4% of the aircraft altitude. By the time you get back to station elevation the errors cancel out fand the altimeter will be reading true altitude, for QNH was faleulated to do exacty that. At higher altitudes the increasing temperature error makes the altimeter over read more and more. The final effect then is for the two errors to average out and for the altimeter to over read by a height equivalent to 4% of the difference between aircraft altitude and station elevation ~ as the Rule of Thumb says. [Note from figure 7-1-19 dat in cold conditions Une suseriead value of QNH is less than that of OFF and that the GNH level is fat a higher altitude than msl, higher than QF. Ifthe airfield is bhelow sea level the result reverses and in cold conditions the (QNH value would more than QFF and the level of QNH would bbe below msl, below the QFF level. In cold tonditions, therefore, if you let down to zero indicated altitude with a high clevation airfield QNH set you would be above msl and if you ‘Meteorology tees 4a7climbed out of a below ml sirfeld with airfield QNH set you ‘would still be below msl at zero indicated altitude. At low level, on an instrument approach in marginal weather, height ervors of 50ft or less may spell disaster. Itis essential, therefore, to make an altimeter temperature error correction, when calculating minimum descent heights and decision heights in cold conditions, The operator will provide accurate correction tables, Drift and Altimeter Error ‘Temperature error depends on temperature change and on a proportion of height. At low level temperature errors will pormally be small and, apart from on instrument approaches, the more important error will be barometric because sea level pressures change during a long ght. ‘The circulation around an area of low pressure in the Northern Hemisphere is anticlockwise, so as. you fly in toward the centre at low level, with your true height decreasing, you will hhave starboard drt. “At higher altitudes the arma temperature becomes the dominant factor and the upper winds may be quite diferent from the low level winds. Nevertheless it is stil true in the Northern Hemisphere that, if you ly a constant indicated altitude and have starboard drift, your true altitude is decreasing, At height, however, you do’ not know ‘whether this is caused by sea level pressure changes or air mass temperature changes, Airflow over High Ground Airflow over high ground can alfect the atmospheric pressure, ‘Just as the airflow over a wing leads to a drop in pressure, #0 ‘does airflow over a hill. In this area of reduced pressure the altimeter will indicate a higher altitude than it should ~ it will over read. Additional height margins should therefore be allowed when flying over high ground in strong wind ‘conditions, ag act et seeronagyChapter 2 - Temperature have already suggested that weather systems are ‘riven by the movement of energy Now we will ook fat the source of that heat energy, the sun's radiation, and the distribution of heat in the atmosphere, Heat and Temperature ‘Temperature is a measure of the level of molecular activity within a substance, and it is not a direct measare of the amount of heat energy present. You can have very hot small ‘objects that contain litle heat energy, and large warm objects that contain huge amounts of hest energy. We have to male @ clear distinction between heat energy and temperattre, When an object is cooled to a temperature of absolute zero, - 273 °C oF OK, all molecular activity ceases, and the object contains no heat energy. I we add heat energy, the temperature will go up. How much the temperature goes up depends on the material we are heating. We define the units of heat energy by refererce to the behaviour of water. We say that the amount of heat needed (0 raise one gram of water by one degree centigrade - or one Kelvin as they are the same size - shall be called ane calorie (cal). Thus if you add 1Ocal to 1 gm of water the temperature will rise by 10 °C, or if you add 10cal to 100 gm of water the temperature will rise by 0.1 °C. Water has the highest ability of all common substances to absorb heat in this wey 80 most ‘other materials will heat up more easily ‘The ratio of the amounts of heat required for the same temperature rise is called the specific heat of the substance. Water hae a specifie heat of 1.0 so mast other common substances have specific heat values of much less than 1.0. For example, ice has a specific heat of 0.5 and rock a specific hheat of about 0.25, depending on its compostion. This fundamentally affects the way oceans and land masses Meteoroloay ~tasue 8 2Arespond (othe energy input from the sun, for the sea stays at a more or less constant temperature while night and day, winter fan summer, the land heats up quickly and cools down quickly. Latent Heat Energy is also needed to loosen the bonds that hold molecules together and so change solids to liquids and liquids to gases, ‘This energy input does not raise the temperature but remains hidden or latent inside the eystem, ready to be released to the surroundings when a change of siate in the reverse direction ecurs. To change a gram of ice at O "C to water at 0 °C you hhave to add 80cal - there will be no rise in temperature, just a change of state. To make the change from liquid water to ‘water vapour at 100 °C you have to add 540cal per gm. Going the other way, 1 gm of water vapour condensing into water releases S40cai to the surrounding a. ‘These heat quantities are called the latent heat of fusion {melting and the latent heat of evaporation /condensation. The amounts of heat energy involved in changes in the large-scale atmosphere ate very significant. Figure 7-2-1 illustrates this Latent heat - water Figure 7.24 Here one gram of ice at 273 °C is heated. To bring it up to 0 °C about 137eal must be added. “A further 80cal is needed to change it to water at 0 °C, bringing the total heat content to 2iTeal. Another 100cal brings the Water t0 100 °C, but now a further 540cal is needed to change the water to water vapour 22 TeaueS——~S*S~*C artoft 100 °C, more than doubling the heat energy content of the system, from 317 to 857cal. If now the water vapour changes back to water the heat content is more than halved, and ‘540cal per gram of water is released to the eurroundings. Of course, water can evaporate at temperatures below 100°C, itis just that the process is slower at lower temperatures. The principle is the same, but the calories needed to make the Change are rather more at lower temperatures, reaching about {600cal for temperatures around 0 °C. Note that water vapour ‘can go straight to ice and ice to water vapour witheut passing through the water stage. The common term fr this is deposition for the vapour/ice transition. The latent heat value ‘willbe the sum of the two normal stages, about 680cal. Over the Amazon basin on a typical day, rising moist air forms convective cloud aloft, and heavy rain falls. The latent heat of condensation released is enough to raise che mean temperature of the troposphere overhead by 16 °C, This, process of evaporation and condensation is one of the more powerful factors involved in the global movement of heat energy. Insolation - Heating by the Sun As the sun is a very hot body, it radiates energy at wavelengths faround 1 micron, which ranges from atomic radiation through ultra-violet and the visual spectrum to infra-red. Fortunately for us, a lot of this energy is diverted, scattered and reflected high in the atmosphere and much of the ultra-violet is finally Absorbed in the ozone layer. From the tropopause cown about 15% of what is let is either scattered or absorbed in clouds, gases and dust in the troposphere, but itis generally rue to Say that the sun's radiation passes through the troposphere to hheat the earth, and it is the earth that then heats the troposphere. ‘The intensity of radiant energy from the sun ineiéent on the ‘earth depends on ite angle of arrival. The angle of arrival at any Point is dependent on its Latitude, the season, as the earth ‘axis tilts in relation to the sun, and the time of day Figure 7. 2-2 illustrates, Here the radiation, which arrives in parallel lines trem the sun, has the same intensity at A, B and C, but A-and C have to ‘cover much more surface area on the earth, so the intensity of radiation falling on the surface is much lower. The extra distance that radiation at A and C has to pass trough the ltmosphere also slightly reduces the intensity on the surface. Tesue 5 23When the radiation arrives at the earth's surface, some is absorbed, and some is rellected back out to the troposphere land to space. How much is absorbed, and how much reflected epends primarily on the type of surface. Forests and ploughed land, for example, absorb radiation energy readily but snow and desert sand reflect it backe Oceans absorb radiation that arrives at high angles of incidence, as in the tuopics, but reflect more when the angle of arrival is low. This js also true to some degree of all surface types, $0, overall, we ‘ean say that the percentage of incident radiation energy that is absorbed by the earth depends on the type of surface and the langle of arrival ofthe radiation. When the earth absorbs the radiant energy from the sun its temperature rises. If you refer back to the section on specific hheat you will see that for any given quantity of heat energy that i absorbed by the earth's surface, the rise in temperature will depend on the specific heat of the surface material. Water, with fa specific heat of 1.0, will show the lowest temperature rise, damp earth a greater rise, and materials like rock and concrete ‘in cities - the greatest rise in temperature. This is why, in the Sunshine, the flagstones at the side of a swimming pact burn your feet when the water in the pool is cold. In the oceans the temperature rise is further limited by the deep penetration of the radiation and by circulation of the water, which mixes surface water with the great stable mass of cold deep water issue 5 Meteoroltemperature is ‘and cools bycomact Because the degree to which the earth heats the troposphere depends on the temperature of the earth's surface, this is one ofthe fundamental factors in determining the behaviour of the ‘weather system. Remember, night and day, winter and summer, oceans maintain stable temperatures, while land masses rapidly heat up and cool down, The Heating of the Troposphere ‘The earth has a much lower temperature Uaaue die sue aa because of this radiates energy at a much longer wavelength, in the 10 micron band. Radiation at this. wavelength is absorbed in water vapour and carbon dioxide, and by clouds, hheating the twoposphere, especially. the lower troposphere where clouds and water vapour are at a maximum. Some long ‘wave radiation ie re-radiated and reflected back to the earth, at ‘2 maximum rate in overcast conditions. This is the first of the ‘ways thatthe earth heats the troposphere - by radiation, [At the surface in contact with the troposphere, an exchange of heat energy takes place by conduction. ‘This ean go either way, for if locally the surface is colder, heat wil be takes from the air and where the surface is the warmer, the layer of air in Contact with the earth will be heated. Condition Figure 72.3, Conduction works by contact, In figure 7-2-3 the heat is conducted along the bar. Air is not a good conductor of heat. In the absence of any method for distributing the heat aloft this Meteoroosy Tesue 5 ne)effect would be confined to a very shallow layer at low level, a8 Indeed it is on very stil days or nights ‘The method for transfer of the heat aloft is convection, the vertical movement of air. ‘This can be forced convection - ait forced up over a range of mountains ~ or mechanical turbulence in the lee of hills or mountains, More usually i is thermal convection, where the heated air will have a lower density than its surroundings and therefore rises. Convection ‘The rising air carries energy aloft in two forms, ordinary heat ‘energy, for the rising air has a higher temperature, and latent ‘energy, for, as the air rises and cools, water vapour in the air may condense to form cloud, releasing its latent heat of ‘condensation. Figures 7-2-5 and 7-2-6 give you schematic diagrams of the complex inter-relationship. Do not ty to memorise the dlagrams, they are only there to give you a general feel for the system. 2 Tesu0 8 "Meteorology‘eneray than anything ese Long wave radiation transfers out to the troposphere a large ‘amount of heat, but a large amount is also re-radia:ed back to the surface. Out of al the energy transferred from ‘he surface to the troposphere net lang wave radiation accounts for only, 42%, Warm air convection accounts for 12% and latent heat Convection for 46%. Long wave radiation out to space occurs from the upper troposphere, one reason why temperatures aloft are low. “Meteorology Tssuo 5 a‘The final heat transfer method is advection, the horizontal ‘movement of the air, wind. Because, by definition, advection only transfers energy horizontally it is not responsible for heating the troposphere, only for redistributing the energy within it. We shall see later that advection has a substantial effect on the stability of the ai.Surface Temperature Having looked at the mechanism for the heating of the earth we would expect to ind surface temperature varying widely by place, by day and by season. Figures 7-2-8 and 7-2-9 show ‘the world mean surface temperatures in January and July. Surface Temperatures January Surface Temperatures July Figure 729 Notice how, in January, the land masses in the Northern Hemisphere are extremely cold, while inthe Southern Hemisphere they are hot. Note, too, the effects ef cold sea currents off the west coasts of Africa and South America, and ff the warm sea currents in the North Atlantic and North Pacific aceans. Meteorology TesIn July, the position has reversed. North America and Siberia hhave warmed up, Siberia reaching 20°C, while in the Southern Hemisphere the land masses have cooled down. There are very hot regions in Mexico, the Sahara and on the Tibetan platests, ‘The effects of the cold currents aff Peru and South Affica can still be seen, but in the North Atlantic the sea temperature is About the same as the land temperature, and the contrast is less obvious. In the North Pacific, the sea temperature, remaining relatively constant, is now colder than the land temperature. The sea temperature off Califomia has been more or less the same all ear round Sea currents play a major part in the distribution of heat at low level. So do the global winds. The warm winds blowing Up over the Gulf Stream are moving heat horizontally by a process bf advection. They carry heat in the same way that convection does, as warm air, and as latent heat. Warm moist air drifting over cold surfaces and forming advection fog is carrying out the same process as convection and cloud formation, but, horizontally instead of vertically Diurnal Variation of Surface Temperature ‘The daily, or diurnal, variation in surface temperature is also Important, for on this depends the formation of radiation fog, for example, land and sea breezes, and the development of convective cloud during the day. Figure 72.40 The balance between incoming and outgoing radiation is shown at figure 7-2-10, for a typical day over land in May or September, in the middie latitudes, with sunrise at 0600 local ‘mean time (LMT) and sunset at 1800LMT. 2a0 Issues ——~=~S*S*~*«M roy‘cccur 30 minutos ier emiee, ond maxim You would expect the surface temperature to fall during the radiation deficit, and to rise when net radiation goes into surplus, and thie is roughly true. There are, however, more factors than just radiation at work, As the temperature rises, thermal convection begins, and. winds can bring turbulent ‘ining of the air. Near the coast, sea breezes will bring the ‘Sea's stabilising effect into play. Clouds too, as we have seen, will give a blanket eflect, limiting incoming radation and Feflecting back outgoing radiation, and therefore reducing the variation in temperature. Thick clouds are a more effective blanket than thin clouds. ‘The overall effect, is that minimum surface temperatures occur at about 30 ‘minutes after sunrise, and maximum temperatures at two to three hours after mid-day, with the diurnal variation of surface temperature much reduced by ‘loud cover. This is summarised in igure 7-2-11 forclear skies ‘and overcast conditions, and with the radiation pattern displayed for comparison, During each 24hr cycle, systematic changes to the heating of the atmosphere in turn produce systematic charges to the surface pressure, ‘These occur on @ 12-hour cycle and there are two maxima, at ‘about 1000 local time and 2200 local time, and two minima, at about 0400 local time and 1600 local time. The csanges are ‘small, one millibar or so in temperate latitudes and up to four millibars in the tropics, ‘These changes are masked in temperate latitudes, where the pressure changes rapidly anyway as the weather pattern Changes. In the tropics, the absence of the changes as the Tesue 5 zatpressure begins to fall steadily is one of the first indications of the approach of @ deep depression or a full scale tropical revolving storm, aaa TanueG~~S~CSC*« ate ralogyhola amy more water vapour itis ‘turated Chapter 3 - Moisture & Convection the atmosphere is to see how convection and moisture he next stage in our tour through the energy system of inthe air combine to carry energy alot. mn any system where you have a gas and its liquid sife by side, fas in the water vapour/water system in the atmosphere, there fare (wo conflicting factors at work ~ temperature and gas pressure. Rising temperature increases molecular activity and makes the ‘molecules in the liguid more likely to escape through the surface to the gas state. Rising gus pressure above the liquid {ries to push the molecules back. Water will continue to evaporate until the concentration of water vapour reaches point where the water vapour pressure is high enough to push, water molecules back at the same rate as they are escaping. ‘he ait Is then said to be saturated with water vapeur, This is ‘known as the saturation vapour pressure (SVP) I the air subsequently cools the gas pressure will push some vapour back to the water state, visible as cloud fog cr dew. The concentration of water vapour will decrease until once again ‘the temperature and gas pressure factors are in equibriu. ‘The saturation vapour pressure depends only on the temperature and the evaporating surface. Figure 73-1 shows the SVP in HPa over both water and ice at ¢ range of temperatures. Temporaine “0 [10 [© [+0 | 20 SVP overwatorHPa | 1.25 | 286 | 611 | 128 | 234 SvPovericeHPa | 103 | 260 | 617 | - | - Figure 734 ‘The SVP i slightly less over ice than over supercooled water at the same temperature. This means that if unsaturated air is Meteorology ees 3Acooled below O°C the frost point is reached before the dew point, hoar fost forms Air at low temperatures reaches saturation at very low ‘concentrations of water vapour. At 15°C air saturates at a 2% ‘concentration, and at 30°C at about a 4% concentration. This ‘explains why the average concentration of water vapour in the ‘woposphere is so low, at 196. Italso tells us that the majority of the water vapour will be found in areas where the air is warm ~ low doven and in the tropics. Meteorologiste measure the content of water vapour in the air by the Humidity Mixing Ratio, the ratio in gm/ke of water vapour to dry air, The value that corresponds to saturation is the Saturation Mixing Ratio. Whilst the SVP depends only on temperature the amount of air depends on atmospheric pressure so, holding temperature constant, the Saturation Mixing Ratio increases with increasing altitude and, holding ‘pressure constant, it increases with increasing temperatire, Of course, as altitude increases temperature generally falls, so ‘these two effects oppose each other. If we general ‘that, in a standard atmosphere, the Saturation the ‘mass of water the air can hold, decreases gently with height. At sea level at standard pressure, the Saturation Mixing Ratio hhas the values given in Figure 7-3-2. Note that saturated ‘tropical air can hold twice the total weight of water vapour that temperate climate air ean hold. Temperature*c | -20 | -10 | 0 | #10 | +20 | +30 Water vapourgikg | 08 | 18 | a8 | 78 | 15 | 28 Figure 7.32 We need a simple and practical way to say whether air is saturated or not, and if not fully saturated how moist or dry the air actualy is, There are three possible indicators + Relative Humidity (RH) = Dew point © Wet bulb temperature All tell you something slightly different and all are used in Meteorology. 32 Tues ——~SC*S*« Re oroloay vapour meansamity tlle you ‘how much more water vapour the ‘Brean hold the tomporature dow forme ‘The dow point spread tells you oughly how moist the leis, Indieator RM Relative Humidity ‘The Relative Humidity tells us how much water vapour the air is holding compared fo what it could hold. For example, if the fir is holding half the content of water vapour that it could hhold under equal temperature and presstire conditions, then its RH is 50%, and ifit is holding the maximum, then its RH is 100%, Decreasing the temperature at constani pressure will reduce the SVP and also the Saturation Mixing Ratio and increase the RH, increasing the temperature will duce it ‘To give a numerical example, if an air mass has a temperature ‘of 10°C and a mixing ratio of 1.8g/lg, then looking at Bgure 7- 3:2 we can see that at 10°C the air can hold a maximum of 7 Sa/eg, This means the RH is 1.8 > 7.8 x100 = 23% If this air fs cooled to 0°C it can only hold 3.84/k $0 the RH increases to 47%. If we cool It farther to -10°C then it can only hold 1L8g/kg so now it is saturated. This means that -10°C Is the dew point for this air mass We also know that the Saturation Mixing Ratio decreases gently with altitude in a normal atmosphere. This means that, Mf a parcel of alr ie raised up, its Relative Humidity wil {generally increase and eventually clouds wil form. Dew Point Temperature. You have seen how if you cool an air bubble the RH will increase. You will then eventually reach a temperature where the RH is 100%, Prom this temperature on down liquid water will condense out of the mix as cloud or dew and the RH will Femain at 100%, with reducing water vapour content but increasing amounts of liquid water, the total water content in the bubble remaining the same, The temperature at which this happens, or would happen, is the dew point temperature. Dew point temperatures can be measured directly, using @ dew point hygrometer So long as water content or pressure are not altered the dew point remains the same, and raising the temperature will ‘ause the moisture to evaporate, while cooling to dew point will produce condensation once again. When the actual OAT is higher than the dew point, the air Is less than satcrated, les ‘than 100% RH, and the further apart are the (wo, she drier is the air and the lower the KH. This i called the Gew point spread. {As previously mentioned the SVP over ice Is slightly less than ‘over water which means that, below O°C, frost forms before dew. Because the frost point and the dew point temperatures fare still very close together, some references simply use the term frost point to describe the dew point at sub-zero temperatures. Meteorology Tesco 33Wet Bulb Temperature. Here temperature is measured by two thermometers side by side, one with its sensor bulb dry, measuring ordinary OAT, ‘and another with its sensor bulb wrapped in moist cloth. the air ig relatively dry, moisture will evaporate rapidly from the Cloth. The latent heat of evaporation needed for this i taken from the wet bulb, which records a lower temperature than the dry bulb. As RH increases evaporation slows down, and finally ‘ceases altogether at saturation, so the difference between the wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures gives a meagure of RH, that can be calculated exactly if you have the appropriate tables, Wet bulb temperature is not the dew point and always falls between the dew point and the OAT. However, all three coincide at saturation, at 100% RH. ‘A wet bulb and a dry bulb thermometer together, is known as f@ “paychrometer” and gives you the reading required to calculate RH ‘Another instrument to measure humidity is the *hair hhygrometer”. Human hair has the property of expanding when ‘moist and contracting when dry, and when linked to a scale provides an accurate measure of the bumidity, (Just for Interest ~ it has proved that blonde girls have the best hair for this purpose) ‘Summary + Air can only hold a limited amount of water vapour. ‘The higher the temperature the more ican hold + Water vapour content can be stated as the absolute quantity of water, in gm/kg of dry air, or as relative ‘Bumidity, where 100% RH equals saturation, + Relative humidity can also be deduced by quoting the dew point temperature or the wet bulb temperature in Conjunction with the OAT. + Raising the temperature of the air reduces the RH; reducing it increases the RE, +The dew point temperature, the wet bulb temperature and the OAT are all the same at 100% RH, where ‘condensation begins, ‘+ Dew point temperatures for an air parcel with the same water vapour content are slightly lower at height. Cee 5 "Meteorology ‘The wot bulb Spreed also tells you oughly how tmoist the arte ‘Temperature les point andthe OAT[Lapse Rate Is 6.5° ‘per 1000m Lapse Rates Im the section on the atmosphere we described the average variation of temperature with height ~ about 6.5°C per 100m [2°C per 1000R} from which we derived the conditions for the International Standard Atmosphere. This is the average environmental lapse rate (ELR), although in the real ftmosphere the ELR can be very different from the average Figure 7-3-3 is a Temperature/Height diagram, but since height and pressure are equivalent in the atmosphere, ti also a Temperature/Pressure or T/P diagram. The diagram ‘iustrates various possibilities for an ELR, and each depends fon which of many factors have influenced the make up of the If the air mass has been cooled in the lower layers by conduction from a cold surface, for example, then temperature may rise as height increases - a temperature inversion ~ and the temperature may sometimes be constant as height Increases ~ an isothermal layer. If the air mass is subsiding, the lapse rate will probably be low. We will lok at the various {actors later. Our problem now is to determine how vertical movernent - convection ~ 1 allected by dullerences in the ELK, i re Figure 7.33 Convection takes place rapidly, in minutes, and the rising air does not mix with the environment, It behaves rather as ‘hough it were inside a balloon, and this isolation means that ro energy will pass into or out of the rising parcel of air. The Sscientifie word for this is that the process is adiabatic - without, ‘energy gain or loss, Meteorology ues SSC~«SWhen a parcel of air rises it is moving into a level of lower atmospheric pressure, and it will expand, When it expands it ‘cools, and because there is no energy coming in or going, out ‘we can calculate exactly how it will col, for that depends only ‘on the Gas Laws. We can say that rising dry air (and dry in thia specific sense means less than saturated), where no ‘condensation of moisture is involved, will cool adiabatically at 3°C per thousand feet (10°C per km). This is true for all starting temperatures and all Heights. This is called the dry ‘adiabatic lapse rate, the DALR, If the air aa it begins to rise is not dry, but saturated, holding all the water that it can, then as the temperature goes down ‘water vapour will condense out to water, releasing internally some of the latent heat. This release of heat will prevent the temperature internally falling at the fall 3°C/1000f, and the lapse rate will be lower. The process is still adiabatic, and this ew lapse rate for saturated air is called the saturated ‘adiabatic lapse rate, the SALR. Figure 7-3-4 shows air rising first at the DALR the, once it condenses into a cloud, at the SALR Figure 734 ‘The SALR is not constant. The reduction from the DALR depends on the rate at which latent heat is released internally, ‘and this depends on the total amount of water vapour present at saturation. At sea level in temperate climates the SALR is 1.8°C/1000R (6°C/kml, and this is the figure you will work with most of the time. In the tropics at sea level the SALR can be as low as 1°C/ 10008. At surface temperatures below -20°C Where the total water content at saturation is very low, it is near to the DALR at 3°C/1000N. Similarly, at height, the SALR comes very close to 3°C/ 10008, We now have three lapse rates to compare, the ELR, the conditions that apply in the troposphere overhead for today, and the DALR and the SALR. How do they interact when dealing with parcels of rising air? 36 Tesu0 5 Meteorology ‘Tho Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (OLR) I6 por ‘o00n “The Saturated ‘Adiabatic Lapse Rate (ALR) I=Stability and Instability of an Air Mass ‘To enable us to forecast this we classify air masses according to the stability of rising air within the air mass. An air mass is, stable ifthe ar parcel, having risen, sinks back down again. Tt Is unstable ifa parcel of rising air continues to rise on its own. Unstable Air Figure 7 -5 shows a graph of temperature against height for fan imaginary air mass with an ELR greater thar both the DALR and the SALR than he onvroreer N Figure 73.5 At any particular height the environment will be relatively cold 1 parcel of air that has risen and cooled adiabatically, whether following the DALR or the SALR, will stil be warmer than the environment, and at the same pressure level less dense, and will continue to rise. By our definition, therefore rising air is Unstable in this air mass, whether itis saturated or not, We say then, that ifthe ELR is greater than the DALR te alrmass {is absolutely unstable. 1, however, the reverse is true, and the ELR is very low, perhaps even negative -a temperature inversion - then the alr ‘lof in the environment is relatively warm, ‘This is illustrated in figure 7-9-6, Here the rising percels of air are colder than the environment, no matter whether they have Cooled at the DALR or the SALR, and are therefore more dense, fand will sine back down, This airmass is therefore stable 10 ising air and we can say that, If the ELR is less than the SALR, the airmass is absolutely stable Meteorology TesueS 37sng als tara te eneonment, {nd snk baka eer, SAR our \\an ( \ lan Figure 7.36 Conditionally Unstable Air ‘The tricky one is if the ELR falls between the DALR and the SALR, between 118°C and 3°C per 10001. feng o ifeyruriobe 0 LR) pis Aiforcad to rise ‘oo athe DALR andi stab, ‘Mer eaching ts ew point cao tthe SALR, and ‘chy becomes. insta ow pont toperature Figure 737 ‘This situation is illustrated at figure 7-3-7 Here the parcel of ‘sing air, if it is not saturated, has followed the DALR, has Cooled alot, and would be stable. If it is saturated and followed the SALR it would end up warmer than the environment and be unstable. We therefore say that ifthe ELR is between the DALR and the SSALR the airmass is conditionally unstable, stable if the rising sir is dry, unstable i the rising air is saturated If the ELR happens to be the same as the SALR in cloud, or the ‘same as the DALR in clear air, then we have neutral stability, Dut this is so unlikely that we may, in practice, ignore it 3a TesueS——~—~SCS*~*~*« at oroteay“The Wot Bulb “Temperature falls st the Saturated ‘Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR) “The ELR does not have to be the same all the way up to the tropopause. ‘The air mass can have different characeristcs at different levels, being stable at low level and unstabse aloft, for ‘example, or being generally unstable with a stable layer at rmeditim altitude ‘You will remember that the average ELR for the troposphere is about 2°C/ 10008, $0 although airmass stability varies widely from place to place the average condition fr the troposphere is, conditional instability. This means that there is en average tendeney for saturated air 1o rise and continue to rise. I is also ‘ue that “super instabillty”, an environmental lapse rate well above the DALR, does not occur often. In those conitions the instability would quickly carry warm air alof and bring cold air down to replace it, bringing the ELR back to a more normal figure Cloud Formation Although we drew the last three diagrams as though the saturated air was starting saturated at the surface, this is not the normal state of affairs. Air at the surface is nermally not saturated, has an Rit of less than 100%, and a dew point and ‘wet bulb temperature lower than the OAT. Ifthe air rises, it Will cool at the DALR initially, until it reaches dew point, and ft that height cloud will orm, If we assume that the air is forced to rise, but ignore for the moment why it does 50, we can do some calculations on cloudbase height and temperature Figure 7-9-8 illustrates an air mass with a surfece OAT of 20°C, a dew point of 10.5°C and a wet bulb temperature of 15.2%, typical figures for an average surnmer day in temperate latitudes, If the air rises the air parcel dry bulb temperature will fall atthe DALR, 3°C/ 10008 and the wet bulb temperature ‘will fall at the SALR, 1.8°/10008, \We also know that the air parcel dew point temperatare will all alte, and have drawn in a line to show how dew oint would Vary with height for the water content of the suriace air, It ‘actually works out at about 0.7°C/1000R, a number you do ‘not need to remember. ‘Meteoreloay ~tasue 5 38ew gt ne igor fan ai paral Tenpeare OPC 182 BT OP We OAT (On the way up, therefore, the wet bulb and the dry bulb temperatures are converging at the DALR minus the SALR, which is 1.2°C/1000%. The dew point is falling a litle, and all three temperatures will coincide at condensation, at cloudbase In this situation, becatise we started at 20°C, and the gap between the OAT and the wet bulb temperature was 4.8°, the cloudbase will be at 4.8 - 1.2 = 4 thousand & ‘The temperature at the cloudbase can be worked back from either the OAT, using the DALR, ar the wet bulb temperature Using the SALR. Using the OAT the temperature has reduced at 3/10008 for 40008, a reduction of 12°, so the temperature ft the cloudbase is 20° - 12" = 8°C. ‘Try another example: Example: OAT at the surface is 15°C, the wet bully temperature is 9°C. What would be the height and temperature at cloudbase? Solution: The difference between the wet bully temperature and the OAT at the surface is (15-9) 6 Converging at 1.2°C/ 10008, they will coincide fat the eloudbase at (6+ 1.2) x 1000 = so0on. 340 Tews 5 —~SCSCS*« RouAt this height the dey bulb temperature in the sing air will be: 15- 8x5)" OC. Equally, the wet bulb temperature, which falls at the SALR will coincide with the dry bulb temperature at the cloudbase and will be 9- (8x18) - 0°, ‘mere was no reference to the dew point tn the question boeeatse, as we have said, you have no way to make an accurate calculation. The dew point at cloudbase, of course, is the same as the dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures, O°C. All wwe can say is that the dewpoint at the surface is sligatly higher than O° and lower than the wet bulb temperature atthe surface, otherwise cloud would have formed there. ‘Try another example, this time working down from the cloudbase to the surface: Example: The cloudbase is 30008, with an OA” of 5°. What would be the OAT, wet bulb and dew point on the surface? oxT = WB oP. @ 7 we loa ® 1 joa Be f] 1 104" 5 {104 7 s Solution: At the cloudbase the dew point, wet bulb and dry bulb are all S*C. We assume the air has lartived at the cloudbase from the surface ‘cooling at the DALR, so it has cooled by 3xs'c- 9c ‘and the OAT started at 14°C. In the same way we calculate that the wet bulb, cooling at the SALR, started at S°C+ Bx 1.8%) = 10.4". For the dew point, we ean say that it must be slightly higher than 5°C, the dew point at cloudbase, but lower than 10.4%C, the wet bulb fat the surface. Only option (b) Hts these figures, ‘with the dew point in the correct range, “Meteorology Tssu0 5 3aOnce again, we have not attempted an accurate assessment of dow point, as the syllabus does not require it. You must simply remember the general relation of dew point temperatures ‘2 height and to the wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures Meteorologists, in solving these problems, use an accurate raph of temperature and pressure height, called a Tephigram, Which shows the DALK, accurate SALRs for different Temperatures, and saturation mixing ratio lines. The dashed Tine in figure 7-3-8 was actually a saturation mixing ratio line, ‘and indicates dew point temperatures for a particular water Content as height changes. Figure 7-3-9 shows a simplified Tephigram, which might be called a ‘thermodynamic diagram, which’ shows how the saturated and dry adiabatic lapse rates vary with temperattre fand pressure and shows the saturation mixing ratio lines ‘overlaid, Using a chart like this, knowing the OAT and wet ‘bulb temperature and assuming instability, the theoretical loudbase and dewpoint can be plotted rather than calculated. Toa tia ea sea tea ue 8 MeteorologyTriggers Some form of push or trigger Is needed to get convection going, something that will give the surface air an intial lit. The main, triggers are: Orographic Metcorologists will insist on using long words. ‘This one means “to do with mountains’. Oragraphic triggering occurs when the air mass is forced up over rising ground, hills or mountains. ‘Thermal Thermal triggering occurs when the air is heated in the lower layers. This can be from seasonal or daytine heating, fof the surface, or from local areas that are particularly het, like factories and power stations. Frontal Convergence Where two air masses meet at a frontal surface the warmer air will be forced to rise over the colder ai. Non-frontal convergence Where the surface airis moving ‘20 that it converges, the only way out is up, 80 convergence of the low-level winds is always associated with rising air and ‘Turbulence Turbulence at low level, usually in strong, ‘winds in the lee of mountains, causes a specialised form of Orographic Triggers I the air mass is absolutely unstable, any rising ground will trigger immediate convection, which’ will continue on Up, forming cloud, as we have seen, when the rising air soos to its ew point. Ifthe air is very dry, cloud may never form, but the convection will still be there in the clear air, called “blue thermals” by glider pilots, Equally, if the air is absolutely stable, then no matter how high the mountains, the air will sink back down on the lee side, and there’ will be no We need to look at how oropraphie triggers alfect conditionally unstable air. Figure 7-3-10 illustrates the condition of Hsing fir against an ELR of about 2°C/ 10008. Meteorology issue 5 sas,Figure 73-40 If the alr was forced to rise and keep on rising it would cool first at the DALR until it reaches its dew point, and then cloud ‘would begin to form. IF it is foroed to rise further it cools at the SALR. It is not yet unstable ‘The air becomes unstable when the line for the rising air crosses the ELR, marked as the Instability Level, and it will then continue rising unaided until the two nes cross back, Which ought to indicate the cloud top level. In practice, the Vertical momentum of the air carries it a few thousand feet labove the erossover point. Faced with three different orographie triggers, shown in the diagram, what will happen? Passing over the small mountain the air will not cool enough to form cloud, nor will it be “unstable, s0 it will just sink back on the downwind side, Over the second mountain the air rises high enough to form cloud, but remains stable, and sinks back down, forming “cap” cloud Over the third and largest mountain cloud forms, the air goes unstable, and cloud continues on up to the highest available level. These large clouds then drift away downwind of the mountains. The lesson here is that it is the size of the orographic trigger that “determines how a. conditionally lunstable airmass reacts. Suppose that the airmass we are dealing with, with the same BLR and surface OAT, had more moisture content. How would this affect the instability? The diagram at figure 7-3-11 shows this. We have chosen to change the dew point from 10.5°C to 14°C, and this would produce a cloud base at about 2,500% Stable cloud would now form over the smallest mountain, and the middle size mountain will push the airmass into instability. rr) ~ Meteorelogy Big hit, more Ietinoed of fnetabiiy ‘more likelihood of inetanity‘When the unstable convective cloud forms it will continue on toa much greater maximum height. ‘This is another important lesson. Adding moisture to a ‘conditionally unstable air mass increases its tendency toward Instability, and in unstable air masses moist air gives lower cloud bases and higher tops. Figure 7-344 ‘Thermal Triggers ‘Thermal triggering occurs when the air near the surface is heated by conduction. Heating the air locally atthe surface will make it less dense than its surroundings and it will start to rise. Once again, ifthe alrmass is absolutely unstable, this will {rigger full convection, Cloud or blue thermals will form according to the water content. If itis absolutely stable there will be sno convection, although the surface heating will produce some low-level mixing and turbulence. Onc: again the Interest comes with conditionally unstable airmasses. Figure 7-3-12 shows a thermodynamic diagram for en air mass Wwith an ELR of about 2°C/ 1000R, a surface OAT of 18°C and a ‘dew point of 14°C. In this condition the air is stable at the Surface as itis not saturated ‘Meteorology ~Tasue s aas“The second ottect cteurtace heating Is convective ‘Starting trom a higher ‘temperature the has to ise ‘As the day continues surface temperatures continae to rise Rising air starting ffom a higher surface temperature will now intercept the dew point line before reaching the environment line, The rising ai is still unstable, and because of the change from the DALR to the SALR at cloudbase will remain unstable until the lines eross over higher up, at cloud tops. Figure 7-3 14 ithustrates, |A further rise in surface OAT would push the appropriate curves further to the right, as shown in figure 7-3-15, and give ‘higher cloudbase, and also higher cloud tops. ‘This equates with our practical experience of th cool NW airstream we meet often in NW Europe, where a summer day Starts with small convective cloud based at about 20008, and changes during the day, as daytime heating takes elect, 10 large convective cloud based at about 4000-S0O0R, and tops at 15,000- 20,0008. Meteorology issue 5 3a7wv NX KR x Ah aaa lsFrontal Convergence Where two air masses with different characteristes - temperature, water content and so on - converge, then the ‘warmer air, being less dense, will rise over the colderair. If the front is moving rapidly, the uplift will be more intense. The ‘exact behaviour of fronts will be studied later on, and you will See that the Lifting of warm sir associated with the two polar fronts, in the North and South hemispheres, is one of the siajar elements in the glabal energy transfer system, Figure 73-46 Figure 7-3-16 is a diagram of the warm sector beween two fronts ina polar front depression. The warm air is being squeezed up by the two fronts, and while the relatwely gentle ing action at the warm front is producing stable stratform cloud, the stronger lifting action and cold air overruns at the cold front is producing a mix of stratiform and convective Cloud, Stable air has no automatic lifting action, ara the only time you will see stratform cloud extending from lew level up to the tropopause is when there is some large scale upward ‘movement of air, as ata front. This is sometimes celled "mass ascent” Non-frontal Convergence [Even within air masses, where there are no significant diferences of temperature, when the low-level winds converge they will have to rise, tending to give instability and convection. ‘The other factor that comes into play is that converging streamlines mean that the air velocity will increase and the “Meteorology sue 5 39pressure decrease. For these reasons the Sinal result is that Surface convergence, low pressure and rising air are all Linked, while surface divergence, high pressure and subsiding air go together. Examples of non-frontal convergence are found in troughs of low pressure and at the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, where the trade winds converge. Turbulence ‘Turbulence in the lee of high ground can produce « layer of cloud. ‘This effec only occurs ifthe alr mass ie stable, for if it ‘were not then the high ground - an orographic trigger - would ‘set off full convection. By definition, then, we are dealing with ‘an air mass with an ELR less than 1.8°C/1000R. The alt also hhas to be moist and the wind speed needs to be fairly high in. order to generate suliciently strong turbulence. Figure 7-17 Initially, air at A will be taken down by the turbulence to B, warming at the DALR, and air at C will be taken up by the turbulence to D, cooling at the DALR, After a time, when everything hao been mixed up, the air mixture will tale up amt average temperature, with parcels of air going up and down, cooling and warming at the DALR along Bo F and F to E, The turbulence has changed the temperature structure of the air ‘mass in the turbulence layer. The ELR has now become the same as the DALR, 3°C/1000f, and the air below half the layer hheight is hotter than it used to'be, while the air above half way fs colder than i used to be 320 Teeue 5 ~~ Meteorology‘Tertulence cloud layers wil et deeper at night ‘andthe cloud wail ‘be more dense If there i suiicient moisture present in the air mass, the additional cooling in the top half of the turbulence layer will produce cloud. Because the cloud has a high kinetic energy Content in the turbulence it will be very persistent, and sheets of turbulence cloud with « sharply defined top will go on for imiles and miles downwind of the mountains. Turbulence cloud layers get deeper during the night as temperatures fall, and ‘more shallow during the day. ‘The final point to note is that the change in temperature structure within the turbulence layer has generated a sharp fise in temperature ~ an inversion ~ at the top of the ayer, where the temperature now goes from E to A, to rejoin the briginal ELR. The ELR and all other factors remain unchanged fabove the turbulence layer. In our study of convection we have looked at the ways that convection is started and assisted. We need to look now at a factor that Inhibits or prevents convection, a temperature ‘There are basically four ways in which inversions form, at fronts, from surface cooling, from subsidence in stable’ air ‘masses and - no prize for guessing in turbulence layers in the lee of high ground Inversions at Fronts Frontal Inversion Figure 7.3.48, ‘When two dissimilar air masses meet, the warm air wll always settle overhead the cold air becatise of their different densities. Meteorology ese 5 aa‘The frontal slope is very shallow, typically from 1 in 50 to 1 in 150, and if you go up from the cold air into the overlying warm air the environmental temperature, the OAT, will rise at the frontal surface. This is a frontal inversion, Surface Cooling Suite Inversion Figure 7-349, ‘When the surface is cold, during the night or during the winter season, the air in the lower layers will be cooled by conduction. Cooling from below makes the airmass more stable, as we have ‘already seen and, if there is no convection of turbulence in strong winds to mix the low-level ai, it can cool sufficiently to produce quite a sharp temperature inversion from a few ‘hundred to no more than about a thousand feet oF so above the surface, ‘Subsidence in Stable Air Masses ‘Air rising in one place is balanced by air subsiding in another. ‘Subsiding air warms at the DALR, raising the temperature aloft 2 the subsidence develops ‘This type of inversion starts at high level, and gradually sinks uring the Ife of the subsiding alr mass. When it reaches low level the air is no longer able to subside and must diverge at the surface, This tends to stop the inversion at 2000 - 3000 ft. Subsiding air and surface divergence means high surface pressure, so these inversions are typical of well established highs, specifically the big sub-tropical high pressure system, You can also see the elfect of this sort of inversion on fine 322 Teeu0 5 "Meteorologysummer days aver Europe where there is marked layer of poor Visibility trapped by the inversion below 20008 or so. ‘Subsidence inversion Figure 72:20 ‘Turbulence Inversions We have already seen that turbulence creates inversions and, possibly, turbulence cloud. When there is a turbulerce layer in Gry air it is relatively easy to calculate the temperatures Involved after the air has mixed and, consequently, you may be ‘asked to do so Inversion Above A Friction Layer Figure 73:21 Meteorology Tesue 5 323Example: A dry stable air mass has an ELR of, 1.5°C/1000R, and a surface OAT of 15°C. A ‘turbulence layer forms in the lee of ills, the top of the turbulence layer is at 30008. What will be the new surface OAT, and the OAT in ‘the top of the turbulence layer? Figure 73:22 Solution: From the surface OAT of 15°C the ELR of 1.5°C fand the thickness ofthe layer, 3000R, we calculate the OAT at the top ofthe layer to be: 15- (1.53) = 105°. Air from the surface will rise to 20008, coating at the DALR, and be at: 15-(Bx3}= 6°. Ar from the top of the turbulence layer will descend to the surface, warming at the DALR, ‘and be: 10.5 + (8x3) = 19.5°C. After mixing the new surface temperature will bbe the average of 15°C and 19.5°C, that is 17-25°C, and the new temperature in the top of the turbulence layer wil be the average of °C and 10.5°C, that is 8.25°C ‘Note iat Where is 2.25°C lenperature inversion a you leave the top of the turbulence layer and revert to the ELR that existed before the onset of turbulence. Nothing has changed in the air above the turbulence layer. Note, too, that there is an easy way of finding the value of the Inversion, iFthat is ll that is required, Its 328 Tesue 5 ~ Meteerology(DALR-ELR) x Height of turbulence layer 2 ‘Which inthis example is: (3-4.5)x3 =225°C 2 fand, since the diagram is symmetrical, the new surface temperature is the original plus 2.25°C and the new top of layer temperature io the original temperature at that height ‘minus 2.25°C Valley Inversions {In mountain valleys on a clear night radiation cooling on the valley sides produces cold air that slides down into the valley bottom. This is the katabatic effect, covered in the low level winds section. The cold air pooling in the valley botiom {enerates a temperature inversion ~ the temperature rises as {you climb out of the valley. Valey Inversion Figure 73:23 Clearing inversions Inversions are cleared by heating from below, frequently by daytime heating over land, or by a change of weather pattern ‘that brings in a new aie me Meteorology. sue 5 328326 Intentionally Blank MeteorologyCloser tsobare caval stronger pressure gradient nd bigger POF Chapter 4 - Low Level Winds {ind is the horizontal movement of the atmosphere Wind is measured by a wind gauge, an anemometer The simple conventional anemometer is four half cups set Io rotate on a pole. The stronger the wind, the faster the cups rotate. Wind speed in Meteorology can be given in metres per second, the SI unit, in knots or in Krllometres per hour, The Geostrophic Wind ‘The winds at any level are driven by the pressure pattern at ‘that level, so in looking at the way low-level winds are formed wwe have to look first at the surface pressure pattern. Winds factually at the surface, however, are modified by surface Friction, #0 to keep it simple we will start with the low-level free stream wind, the wind above and clear of the boundary layer, and not affected by sueface fiction. Conventionally, this, |p called the 2000f wind, although in practice the boundary layer top can be above or below this height. [Atmospheric pressure is measured in milibars, oF sometimes hhectopascals. Although the average surface pressive is about 1013mb, there is a considerable variation, and air will end to flow from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. We can make a map of surface pressure by joining places of equal pressure, and these lines are called isobars, from the Greek prefix "iso", meaning equal, and “bar” for the pressure. Figure {7-4-1 shows a plot of straight parallel isobars between an area of high pressure and one of low pressure. ‘The isobars are like the cantour lines on maps that join points of equal height, and just as with contours, the closer together fare the isobars the steeper, or stronger, is the pressure fgradient. Thus, we can define the force that acts on a parcel of fir as the pressure gradient force (PGF). We can then say that it acts at right angles to the isobars and that the closer together are the isobars the stronger is the PGF. Isobar spacing, ‘atany place, therefore, i a measure of the POF. Meteorology Tssu0 5 aaHIGH PRESSURE Pressure Grace Force (PCF) Hh pressure wl to move dey towards lew pene Figure 7-4-4 ‘The first thing the air will do when acted on by the PGF is to accelerate down the gradient from high to low pressure, the air will begin to move across the isobsrs. This brings into play a second force, the Geostrophic Force, which affects all moving, bodies on the earth's surface. You are not required to prove how the Geostrophic Force arises. For those who require an explanation to help their understanding a brief summary follows. Geostrophic Force All objects that have mass and are moving will have momentum “a product of mass times velocity, mv - and will maintain their direction in space unless acted on by some extemal force. Space direction, however, is not the same as earth direction. Direction in the earth horizontal ~ azimuth - is changing relative to space ‘azimuth as the earth rotates, and as you will see in the Gyros ‘chapter of the Instruments section there is no relative change of eaimaie at de eyuaior « maxim of 13 degrees per howe ot ‘the poles, and in between the value is (15 x Sin Latitude) degrees per hour. This effect, called the Coriats Effect, means ‘that moving objects not on the earth's surface, seen by an earth ‘based observer, appear to turn right in the Northern hemisphere and left in the Southern hemisphere, at a rate equal to 15SinLat degrees per hour. To account for this apparent change of direction we assume that the object has been acted on by a force {at right angles to the direction of motion, the Geostrephic Force, a Tesu0 5 "Meteorology ‘The pressure gradient force ete at ight Angles to the teobare “The tt foree fet by aris the pressure gradient‘and as the force required to produce the tum is a product of ‘momentum times rate of furn achieved, we can say that: Geostraphic Force = 2.x mVx 18Sinbat If we tidy this up, put in eas the conventional sign for the earth's rate of rotation, 15°/hr, and as we are deatng with a ‘nas put in mass per unit volume, which is density, , in place of ‘mais, we get the equation: Geostrophie Force = 2apVSinbat ‘The Geostrophic Force makes moving air turn right in the Northern Hemisphere and left in the Southern Hemisphere. ‘value is given by the equation: Geostrophic Force = 2opVSinLat Where wis the earth's rate of rotation, p is air densi, Vis air velocity and Lat is Latitude. This is a formula to cemember. Tater on it will help us compare wind strengths in diferent locations. It we revert now to the parcel of air that has been cccelerated by the PGF, and has a speed component, we must now add the GF, acting at right angles to the direction of movement of the fir! Because the Windspeed is low, the GF will be srall. Figure 7-4-2 illustrates this When we vector sum the two forces now acting on the air parcel we find that the resultant force will have the elfect of ‘continting to accelerate the air and will turn i right. The alr speeds up and turns right, ‘Meteorology “issues a3Low PRESSURE 994mb 996m Z | RESULTANT | Force 000m 002m HIGH PRESSURE Figure 7-42 After a time, for this is a continuous process, the air will have tured, will have a higher speed, but it wil stil be acted on by ‘wo forces. These will be the PGF, still the same size and still Acting at right angles to the isobars, and the GF, now larger, because the windspeed is higher, and still acting at right angles to the direction of movement of the air. Figure 7-4-3 ‘kistrates, Low PRESSURE 8m ame 000m 002m HIGH PRESSURE Tasue 5 Meteorology‘Buys Batons Law tf you stand ‘with your back to the wind In the hhemiophere low your ter. Now the resultant force is still turning the air to the right, and ‘is stil acting to increase its speed, but the resultant force is ‘ow smaller and therefore the rate of acceleration is reducing. ‘The final steady state wil be with the air owing parallel to the isobars, so that the PGP and the GF are equal and directly opposing each other. The resultant force will be zero, and the fir will have reached a speed that makes the GF exactly the fame size as the PGF, igure 7-4-4 illustrates this, and we could show using similar ‘lograms that, ifthe alr changed direction, slowed down or ‘speeded up, the resultant force would act to pull it back to the steady state. This steady state, fee-stream wind blowing along, ‘straight, parallel isobars ie called the Geostrophic Wind. Low PRESSURE same HIGH PRESSURE Figure 7444 ‘This is a surprising result, It means that in the steady state the free-stream wind does not blow from high to low pressure, Dut blows along the isobars. Because ofthe way the Geostrophle Force works, it means that if you stand with your back to the wind in’the Northern Hemisphere, the low pressure area wil be on you" lef. This, rule was discovered by a Dutch meteorologist called Buys Ballot, known therefore as Buys Ballot’ Law. Im the Southern Hemisphere, if you stand with your back to the wind, the low pressure will be en your right. ‘This also leads tothe result that winds circulate anti-clockwise around a low-pressure area in the Northern Hemisphere and Meteoroloay issues asclockwise around a low in the Southern Hemisphere - when fen from above A second interesting result is that we have determined that the steady state wind speed is always such that the POF balanced by the GF. Back at the beginning we established that the PGF depended on the isobar spacing, so as long as we get the units sorted out we can write an equation for the steady state wind that says: Isobar Spacing = PGF = GF = 2opVSinLat ‘This means that we can find the steady state windspeed, V, by measuring the distance between the isobars, for at one place and time @,pand Latitude are all constants. The closer the ‘sobars, the stronger the steady state wind. In practice the wind speed is measured from isobar charts using a suitable tcale, a process we cover later. Bach scale, however, can only be correct for one air density and one Latitude. ‘This leads us to a third conclusion. In an equation, if one factor goes up on one side there must be a balancing reduction Jn some other factor on that same side if the equality is to be maintained. What happens to Vif we change SinLat or p? Remember the equation: Isobar Spacing = 2apVSinLat For any constant isobar spacing, and if the other factors are constant also, if SinLat is low, near the equator, then V must be high. ‘Conversely, at hhigh latitudes, for a\ given isobar spacing, V must be lower. ‘This means that steady state winds, for a given isobar spacing, forthe same PGF, are lower near the poles and higher near the equator. This is strange, for we know Irom our basic definition fof geostrophic force that it is zero at the equator, and quite small at low latitudes. What happens is that at low latitudes, where the turing forces are low, the air reaches steady state speeds only after a long time, while slowly working up to high velocity. Always remember, however, that this comparison only applies so long as the isobar spacing is the same in every case, ‘A comparison of windspeeds at different latitudes for the same isobar spacing is given in Figure 4-7-5: Latitude ‘90° | 75 | oo" [ 45" | 30" | 15" [Speed lt) aa [22 [25 [30 [42 | 32 Figure 7.43 ‘The same comparison can be made for density changes. If p is low, V must be high if everything else is unchanged, This is Teste ‘Meteorology Winds go ant- homisphere Wind speed con be found rom the Isobar spacing For the same {sober spacing wind speeds are higher ner thefone reason, but only one reason, why winds at high altitude fare generally faster. In summary, then, the steady state free-stream wind that, ‘blows along straight parallel isobars is called the Geostrophic ‘wind. The Geostraphie Wind blows along the isobars at a speed that is proportional to the isobar spacing, low pressure on the left in the Northern Hemisphere. For any given isobar spacing, the Geostrophic Wind is higher near the Bquator, Measuring the Geostrophic Wind |A geostrophic wind scale is shown in use at figure 7-4-6. The senle origin is atthe left-hand end, and it Is eaay to miss this, ‘small mark. As the igobar spacing expands down the seale to the right lower and lower wind speeds are recorded. In our example, the isobars are drawn at 2mb intervals, whieh is Iypical for surface pressure charts. The note on the scale Confirms that this is correct, and ties down calibrated density for the scale by stating the temperature and pressure. This scale is suitable for only one Latitude, 55°. Some scales will give you correction factors to use with different densities and Inttades Figure 7.48 ‘The scale is not linear, so in interpolating between the marked speeds you must adjust for this factor. In figure 7-4-6 the ‘speed indicated is about 17-18kt Meteorology Tesu0 5 47The Gradient Wind AA pressure pattern with straight and parallel isobars is hard to find in practice, so our next task is to look at what happens when we are dealing with the much more common case of feurved isobars. For the air to low round curved isobars a force foward the centre is needed, and this is found from the difference between the pressure gradient force and 2 changed -peostrophic force, ‘or a low-pressure system, the air lows round the tow, parallel to the isobars, but at a lower speed than the Geostrophie Wind ‘would be forthe same isobar spacing. An unchanged PGF and ‘a smaller GF give the required centripetal force, as figure 7-4-7 shows. For a high pressure system an unchanged PGF and a larger GF provide the force, the wind now flowing at @ higher speed than the equivalent Geostraphic Wind. These modified winds are called Gradient Winds, and we can say: For Gradient Wind compared to the Geostrophic Wind: Low round a low, high round a high ‘The mnemonic is the same for winds in the Southern Hemisphere, although the direction of circulation is reversed. GRADIENT WINDS Low round lows High round highs hie gradient force eee i tome 0 etter oaneerolentnobare are Windspeed trom ‘he geostrophic sStatitude and ne Equator te fgeostropnic wind wore ‘shove the ground ‘This means that if a Geostrophic Wind Scale is used to find the Gradient Wind by measuring the isobar spacing it will give a ‘wrong answer. Meteorologiss read the wind as though it were 2 Geostrophie Wind, then make a speed correction, up oF down, allowing for the radius of curvature of the isobars. However, for the exam, in all your practical exercises you will read windspeed directly from the Geostrophic Scale. ‘There is another problem. If there were no GF the force toward the centre of a low would be the PGF alone, and the wind would circulate at @ speed higher than the Gradent Wind. This is the situation near the Bquator, where the GF is very low. Because of this anomoly tropical winds are forecast by calculation and not measured with a Geostrophic Wind Scale. These winds are called Cyclostrophie Winds ‘The same problem arises when the isobars are very close together, as in tornados, and the PGF is so high that the GF becomes relatively insignificant. You will not be required to work out any Cyelostrophie Wind In summary, we started with the Geostrophie Wind, the low-level steady state free-stream wind that blws along straight and parallel isobars, and then studied the effect of ‘motion around curved isobare, ‘This gave us the Gradient Wind, and we were able :0 say that for the same isobar spacing the Gradient Wind will be lower than the Geostrophic wind when blowing round a low pressure area and higher round a high. We noted that wher the GF is very small, as in the tropics, or the PGF very high, the Windspeed i better assessed as a Cyclostrophic Wind, ‘calculated directly from the laws of motion an curved paths: The Surface Wind Now we have to look at a further modification that will affect any of the fre-stream winds, the ellect of surface Fiction. As {in aerodynamics, 0 in the larger world of metecrology, air flowing over surface will have a boundary laye: in which surface friction will slow the air. The air velocity gradually reduces from the ffee-stream to zero In contac: ‘with the surface. Therefore, if we measured the "surface wind” actually fn the surface, or in the grass on the airfield, we weuld always get zero as our result, In practice meteorological Surface Wind is meastred by an fanemometer ~ a wind meter - on a pole 10 metres above the surface, at a location relatively free from obstructions and ‘buildings that might cause gusts and errors, How much the air Meteorology Tesu8 5 asslows down depends on the drag of the surface - a rough Surface will slow the air more than @ smooth surface - and the conditions in the boundary layer Boundary layers can be classified into two types, laminar and turbulent. Ina laminar boundary layer there is no vertical ‘mixing, and the layers of air slide smoothly over each other, giving a linear decrease in speed from the free-stream to zero, Ina turbulent layer there is some degree of vertical mixing, fand high speed air from near the free-stream is mixed with the Tower layers, giving a non-linear reduction in. speed down through the’ layer. Figure 7-48 shows examples of the {wo types. TURAULENT LAMINAR Figure 7.48 Notice that the laminar layer is thinner than the turbulent layer. Conventionally we say the turbulent layer is 2000 thick and the laminar layer 1000 to 1500f thick, although, as we noted at the beginning, these boundary layers can vary in thickness by quite a bit. In each case the free-stream wind, at the top of the layer is the same, and the arrows show how the speed decreases as you come down through the dierent ypes of layer. The figure has two anemometers drawn, the actual Sensors well above the surface. This shows that, sf surface drag is the same, in a turbulent boundary layer the fanemometer will be reading a relatively high speed, a high proportion of the free‘stream value, while in the laminar layer the: anemometer will read a relatively low speed, a small proportion of the free-stream value Whether a boundary layer is laminar of turbulent depends on ‘wo things; mechanical mixing over hills and thermal convection from the surface. We would therefore expect to find laminar layers over smooth cold surfaces, and turbulent layers lover hot rough surfaces. Air measured at the standard 10 metres will thus be slower than the free-stream wind, slowed by surface friction. Slowing, a10~S~S~*CSau "Meteorology layer s typically the faminartayer thik boundary layer is ‘turbulent by day ‘and laminar by ight‘changes direction from, for ‘oxamplo, 20° to backing win tha ©) changes direction trom, for ‘example, O10" to 020" In ald to be vow the air reduces the GF, and since the PGF remains the same, the wind will tam in toward the low-pressure area In the Norther Hemisphere, the low pressure will be on the Jef, 80 as you come down through the boundary layer you will find the air slowing and turning left. Winds thit change direction in this sense, heading decreasing, sre said to be backing. Figure 7-4-9 shows how the forces balance out, PGF and GF in the free stream, PGF, GR and the Friction force in ‘the boundary layer. Figure 7.49 In the Southern Hemisphere the low pressure will be on the Tight, s0 the wind in the boundary layer will slow and turn Tight|- veering, So to describe wind speeds at the surface in {elation to the low-level fre-stream wind we 8 ‘Slack and back for the Norther Hemispher> ‘Slack and veer for the Southern Hemisphers Figure 7-4-10 shows the change of direction and percentage speed reduction over land and sea, by day and night of the surface wind compared to the fee stream wind. You may be Asked the daytime figures. Meteorology Tssu0 5 aaaFigure 7-4-10, Because the sea surface is amooth the surface drag is small, the boundary layer is very shallow, and the speed reduction land consequent heading change at the measured 10 metres is mall, Sea surface condition and temperatures are the same, ay and night, so the boundary layer is the same, and the reduction in windspeed and change of heading is also the same, day and night. The land is rough, slows the wind more, and heats up during the day and cools at night. The boundary layer is turbulent by day and more laminar by night, giving a more marked reduction in speed and change of heading at night, particularly with a cold surface and a stable airmass. You should only need the “day” figures for land and sea in the JAA exams, Finally, because the boundary layer over land at night becomes more laminar it also becomes thinner. This is the dural Variation of boundary layer thickness. Conventionally the aytime boundary layer is taken to be 20008 thick and the night-time boundary layer 1000’ to 1500f thick. This assumption produces an interesting result. The 1500 wind, by day, is in the boundary layer, and slightly less than the fHee-stream wind at 2000f. At night, the 1500R wind is the free-stream wind, so the speed of the 1500f wind at night is higher than the 15008 wind by day - always providing the free- stream wind has remained constant. This is the opposite of ‘what happens to the surface wind under the same conditions, In the Northern Hemisphere an increase in speed means a veer ‘and a decrease a back. In the Southern Hemisphere the speed ‘changes night and day are the same but an increase in speed ‘means a back and a decrease a veer ane Tesue 5 "Meteorology Hemisphere the Slows and backs ft night but the {15004 windThe Isallobaric Effect Up to this point, we have considered winds that blow in the steady state, and we found that the Geostrophic and Gradient ‘winds blew along the isobars. If winds blew all the time along the isobars, then low-pressure areas would never fil or deepen, there would be no ‘convergence and convection and no weather. What happens is Ghat while dhe prevsue pices i Caauging sapidly eis duce blow across the isobars, Rate of change of pressure can be measured, and lines joining places with an equal rate of change of pressure are called {sallobars, From these Meteorologists can determine the correction that must be applied to the measured Geostrophic fF Gradient winds to get the correct crossisobar wind. This is called the Isallobarie tect Summary ‘+ We started by defining the Geostrophic Wind, the low. level free-stream wind that blows in the steady state ‘long straight isobars. We noted that wind speed can be measured from the isobar spacing, and that for ‘equal isobar spacing the Geostrophie Wind is higher at low latitudes and lower at high lattudes We then Tooked at the modifestions +The Geostrophic Wind when blowing round curved isobars becomes the Gradient Wind ~ which is lower round lows and higher round highs. The Surface Wind is slower the Geostrophie Wind and ‘has backed in the Northern hemisphere bu: veered in the Southern Hemisphere. +The Ieallobarie Bfect Js the correction needed when pressure is changing. + We aloo noted the diumal variation of boundary layer thickness, and the times when it would be more approprisie to determine wind speed asa Cyclostrophie wind, Meteorology Wee aaaLocal Topographic Effects Valley Winds ‘Winds in the large scale follow the same physical laws as in the small scale of aerodynamics. When mountain barriers make the winds ow down valleys the effect is the same. as for a venturi - the air converges, the pressure falls and the speed Increases, Nor do you have to have two sides to the valley. Wherever low-level winds are faced with a. topographical obstruction there will be streamline convergence, fall in pressure and an increase in speed. Winds flowing out from the Winter high-pressure area in central Australia run into the Great Dividing Range then tun and run along the range Winds reach speeds of over 60kt at about S000R, a sort of one sided valley win. Figure 7-444 Fohn winds Folus wins tanned afer Use valley i Switacstand where dey were Tirst identified, are warm dry winds that blow over mountains. The classic theory is as follows: Ifyou have a moist stable ar mass blowing slowly over @ range ‘of hills, the air will rise over the hills, cool and form eloud and then slide down the other side, where the cloud will end as the sir warms up in the descent, If moiature has been lost by precipitation on the hill then the cloudbase on the lee side will ane Tesue 5 ~~ Meteorologychinook efocts ‘occur with stoady ester, and Nigh ‘mountains. The Chilean Andes, ‘South Is, Now bbe higher than on the windward side. The longer descent ‘Warming at the DALR will give a higher surface temperature on the lee side. Figure 7-4-12 illustrates, Figure 7.4.12 Here air at @ temperature of 10°C rises to a cleudbase of 1000R, cooling at the DALR to 7°C then goes on up to the hilltop’ at 30008, cooling at the SALR to 34°C. It then goes down the lee side, warming at the SALR, but only to 2000 fand 5,2°C as rain has fallen on the hill, reducing the water content of the air. The air then goes on down te low-level, ‘warming to 11.2°C, where it is drier for two reasons, one because the temperature is higher, which would reduce the Relative Humidity, and two, because moisture has been lost on the hill This effect is particularly noticeable in mountain areas, ‘when katabatie winds (see the Next ection) take cold air down, to pool in the valleys at night and the dawn Fohn wind produces a marked temperature inversion and windshear ‘shove the cold pool. The more general effet - fine weather and warm winds is found everywhere in the lee of hills and ‘Where the airflow i strong and the mountains high, as over the Canadian Rockies, the elect is very marked, The Fobn wind on the Canadian prairies is called the Chinoek, and the ‘most dramatic result has been recorded at Pincaer Creek, Alberta, where with the onset of the Chinook the temperature rose 21°C in four minutes. In Canada this effect can be felt 100-150nm downwind of the Rockies, but further scuth, in the United States ite much less marked. ‘There is @ quick way to calculate the rise in temperature. The diference in cloudbases accounts for a rise of 1.2°C/ 10008 = the difference between the DALR and the SALR - so the formula is, cloudbases in thousands: ‘Temperature rise = (lee cloudbase - windward cloudtase) x 1.2, ‘Weteorology eS wasExample: A moist stable airmass is blowing over a range of hills 60008 high. The windward cloudbase is 1000ft aml, the lee cloudbase 40008 aml. If ‘the mal temperature on the windward side is +15°C, what is the msl temperature on the lee side? Solution: he temperature rise is (-)x12°C- 36°C. The temperature at msl on the lee side is therefore 5+3.6=+18.6°C Katabatic Winds Katabatie winds (from the Greek “to go down’) flow down the sides of hills and mountains at night or on very cold days when there is no strong gradient wind to hide the effec. The cold surface cools the air m contact by conduction, and the colder fand more dense air begins to slide down the mountain, The winds can be quite strong, as each parcel of descending ai Joins with the others. The Mistral in Provence is enhanced by. both valley and katabatic effects as it passes down the Rhone valley, and the Bors, that flows off the Alps into the North Adriatic is a katabatie wind that reaches speeds of up to 7Okt cs. ) a6 ese 5Anabatie Winds “Anabatic winds (from the Greek “to go up") Dow up the sides of mountains when the surface is hot, during the day. The air in ‘contact with the surface is heated by conduction, and the less dense air slides up the hill The heated air will tend to convect, straight up rather than follow the slope of the mountain, 20 Anabatic winds really only show when there isa gentle gradient ‘wind flowing onto the slope which is then enhanced by the nahatic effet Aviation Hazards Associated with Hills ‘There are aviation hazards associated with winds blowing over hill. Air rising up the hill and cooling at the adiabatic lapse rates will bring the zero degree isotherm lower on the windward Side ofthe hill. This, combined with the updraft, may produce ‘moderate icing and turbulence on the windward side. The tirflow over the hill summit may induce lower pressures and make your altimeter over read. On the lee side in mountain, ‘country the warm Folin wind may generate a temperature inversion over cold pools of air in the valleys. This. brings ‘windshear, turbulence and performance degradation atthe top ofthe cold layer, Meteorology Tssu0 5 aaySea breezes are light low-level winds that blow from the sea to the land by day. If there is a strong gradient wind already blowing this will mask the sea breeze effect, and as the driving force is daytime heating of the land, we are looking for a fine summer's day with a slack gradient as the start condition for sea breezes, Figure 7-4-15 shows what happens, The pressure ‘gradient is slack, so over the kilometre or so round the coast, the nurtace pressure in about the same, Daytime heating tana the land temperature, but not the sea temperature, and this hheats up the air in the few hundred feet close to the ground, ‘This produces a pressure difference at somewhere round 300, to 800 feet - higher pressure aloft in the hot column, remember “and a flow starts aloft from the land to the sea, Figure 7-445 ‘This sets out three characteristics of sea breezes - they are low-level phenomena, the process is cyclic, and it starts with fan outfiow aloft from land to sea. The outflow aloft is followed by oubsidence in the cold air and an inflow acroaa the beach to complete the cycle. The inflowing air is cold, and it will be ‘damp as well, and as it comes in over the land a small cold front may form a short distance inland, called the sea breeze front, with a litle cloud at a few hundred feet. Figure 7-4-16 ives the final picture. ane Tesue 5 ~ Meteoroloay movement ofa Ie at helahe@® Figure 7-446, It Js paradoxical that having spent quite a time proving that winds should blow along the isobars we have just explained the sea breeze effect by showing the winds blowing from high tw low pressure across the isobars. But these are not steady state winds, and we were careful to explain atthe beginning of this Chapter that the Geostrophic Wind takes time :0 develop. Because we are dealing here with very small pressure differences, and very light winds - 5 to 10kt - the Ceostrophie Force is very smal. Initially the sea breeze will blow from sea to land at right angles to the alignment of the beach. As the day goes on and the land warms up the speed of the wind will increase and the a breeze will be blowing from further out at sea and penetrating further inland. The resultant stranger wind Travelling a greater distance over a rotating Earth will be affected by coriolis and the direction will veer in the northern hhemisphere and back in the southern hemisphere. This ‘means that with a beach sligned East/West in the northern hemisphere the initial sea breeze might be 180"/Skt. As the moming progresses it would build to perhaps 210"/15kt and by 1500hrs it could peak at 240*/25kt. Through the remainder of the day, a8 insolation decreases, the wind speed will decrease and the sea breeze will back. Only in extreme Circumstances will the sea breeze be so strong that it could be parallel to the beach, “Meteorology issue 5 aa9Land Breezes Land breezes, the opposite effect to sea breezes, blow at night when there is a lack gradient and considerable surface cooling over the land, ‘They are generally neither as frequent nor as strong as sea breezes 420 Tesue 5 MeteorologyChapter 5 - High Level Winds he same rules apply for high levet winds as for low level ‘winds. The winds at 30,000f, for example, blow ‘according to the pressure pattern at that beight. The steady state winds blow along the isobars, ow pressure fon the eft in the Northern hemisphere, and the windspeed can be measured from the isobar spacing using a suitably calibrated scale. ‘The difficulty comes in finding out what the pressure pattern at 30,0008 actually is, given that we can not measure it directly, [At the beginning of the course we noted that the pressure at any height is affected by the surface pressure and the {temperature profil ofthe air in the column from the surface to the level we ate considering. At any height above mel, ifthe air column is relatively warm, the pressure will be higher and in ‘cool air the pressure at height will be lower. |+ High airmass temperature - high pressure alo + Low air mass temperature - low pressure aloft So far we have seen this working on a small scale in sea breezes and we observed that the wind starts to flow from igh pressure to low. Sea breezes, however, are short term events. If the temperature difference between air masses lasted longer - perhape days - the wind would very soon blow along the femperature division, the strength of the wind depending on the pressure difference and the pressure difference depending fn the temperature dflerence between the air masses, ‘The suagestion, then, is that even if there is no wind at the surface there may be winds at height because of temperature Giffeences in the air mass or between alr masees. The wind at height can be shown to be influenced by both th= low level wind and the component arising because of temperature differences, the thermal component. In practice the thermal component can be very large compared to the low level wind, The most extreme example of this is the Meteoroloay ~tasue 5S BaJetstream, an area of high wind speed that exists at altitude near the boundary between warm and cold air masses, a front. Figure 7-5-1 shows a section of a frontal surface over Europe Ie is drawn slightly artificially with constant surface pressures to show how a large pressure difference at height can be created just by the temperature diferences and the expansion of the warm air mass. Figure 7-5-1 also shows that the thermal component is greatest where the isobaric profile, in vertical section, is steepest. Figure 754 ‘This example is in the Northem Hemisphere, over the British Isles. Buys Ballots law applies, stand with your back to the ‘wind in the Northern Hemisphere and the fow pressure and Tow temperature will be on your left. This is a westerly wind, as indeed are most Northern Hemisphere upper winds. ‘As well as looking at the vertical cross section in the above ‘example we ean also looke at the horizontal section, perhaps at the 30,0007 level. Now we can plot the isobars and. the isotherms at that height and show the strong westerly thermal ‘component, See Figure 7-5-2. {In this example so far the surface pressure has been kept the ‘same aeross the whole area at 1000mb and, consequently, ‘there has been no Tow level wind to take account of The upper ‘wind, though, can be shown to be the vector sum of boll the low level wind and the thermal companent, 2 ~”~C«waw ~ MeteorologyISOTHERNS OF MEAN TEMPERATURE 0-30 000 PRESSURE PRESSURE FALLFROM 10008 Ir S000 10 roo. 29008 roo 2 048 Figure 752 1m figure 7-5-3 the example is modified to show surface isobars anda low level wind blowing parallel to them. The 30,000! wind can naw be seen to be the vector sum of the low level Wind and the thermal component. eee Meteorology “Issue 5 33Finding the Upper Winds ‘The strength of the thermal component can be found by calculation, atleast in temperate latitudes. ‘The empirical formula is: Moan enperaure serence height of columns Thi is for ‘Distance Between columns temperate {atid only ‘Size of thea component where the temperature diference is in degrees centigrade, the height of the columns is in thousands of feet and the distance ‘between the columns is in hundreds of nautical miles, ‘Example: Two coltimns of sir 30,0008 high and 150mm apart have mean temperatures of 15°C and ~ These are typleal 20°C. What is the thermal component between them?’ component ata Solution: Use the equation with the correct units: ‘Temalcomponent= (49.0) 30 (thousand f) 115 (oundred nautical mates) = 100 kt Having calculated the strength of the thermal component the forecaster can take the direction fom the isotherms then perform a graphical vector sum to find the upper wind Sirection and speed Exam questions can go on to ask for resolution of the three related vectors, the low level wind, the thermal component and the resultant upper wind. If any two are given, the third ean be determined, but the assessment of speed and direction has to be visual, and therefore approximate. Example: At airfield A the 2000f wind is from the South ‘at 30kt. The thermal component to 30,000ft is from the West at 100kt. What is the wind at 30,0008 fa) 250°/110% (0) 290°/110%t fe) 070"/110K fa) 110"/110%t sa Teeue 5 Meteoroiogy‘contour charts, height of ‘chosen pressure level above mel Solution: Sketch a rough diagram: Figure 75-4 ‘The 30,0000 wing isthe resultant vertor sum ‘of the 20008 wind and the thermal component. ‘The diagram shows that the 30,0000 wind is, from about 250" at about 110kt. Answer (a) Contour Charts In the last section we plotted the thermal disteibu:ion in the ‘upper alr by using isotherm charts. Since we know that the thickness of any layer of air between two pressure levels, ‘depends on the air mass temperature, we could just as well luse the thickness of the air to show how the air mass temperature is distributed. ‘The thickness of the air can be shown in two ways. Contour charts show the height of a particular pressure level above mean sea level, thickness charts show the vertcal extent between two pressure levels. The advantage of contour charts is that they take irto account, the mean sea level pressure, show the true height of the pressure level and therefore the true upper winds are indicated. Figure 7-5-6 shows a contour chart for the 500mb pressure level. Notice that the heights of the S00mb level above mean Meteorology Tssue 5 ossea level are in metres on this example. Pigure 7 cross section through this chart Figure 756 igure 7-7 ‘The upper wind will blow parallel to the contours. Buys Ballots Jaw applies, stand with your back to the upper wind in the Northern Hemisphere and the low contours will be on your left Once again the greatest wind speed will occur at the point ‘where the isobaric surface slopes most steeply in vertical section, where the contours are closest together. Teeue 5 ~~ MeteorologyContour lines are also known as isohypses ~ fom che Greek, Jo. plus hypeos, ‘height. Contour charts are available. for Yoomb, 200mb, 250mb, 300mb, 500m, 700mb ad 850mb pressure levels, These are plotted with contours at 60m Intervals up to the S0Omb level, and at 120m intervals for the ‘300m and higher charts Ifyou are dying a constant indicated altitude or fight level you fare flying on a contour susface. In the Northern Hemisphere if you have starboard drift ~ wind from your left ~ you are going Gown to lower contours and your true height amsl is, ‘decreasing, see figure /-5-7. Whether this 1s caused By lower temperaties in the alr mass ahead or by lower mel pressure you cannot say. It might be either or both Some contour charts have the added refinement of isotachs - ‘equal windspeed lines - drawn on them so you can read both the direction and strength of the upper wind without a geostrophic scale. Contour charts have advantages for long, Aistance fight planning away from airways restraint, but the majority of upper wind information nowadays comes as spot wind charts for a range of Might levels. Thickness Charts ‘The advantage of thickness charts is that they take no account of surface pressure variations and therefore show more clearly than contour charts the distribution of temperature in the atmosphere. ‘The thickness of the air between two chosen presiure levels ccan be displayed in metres, but is more often shown in ‘decametres (Dm, ten metre units, 5450m is 545Dm, about 18,0008. Lines of equal thickness are called isopleths ‘The main use of thickness charts is in weather forecasting, If you compare thickness charts with the msl pressure charts you can see if thermal changes are coming. If tae surface Isobar are at right angles to the isopleths then the low to medium level winds are bringing changing upper alr temperatures — advection of cold or warm air. If the surface Isobare and isopleths are parallel there will be no significant changes coming aloft. When change is likely the thickness {indicates what the change will be. A thiek layer indicates high temperatures aloft and a more stable outlook, a thin layer indicates a trend to instability, igure 7-5-8 shows a forecast chart for Burope which displays the sea level isobars as old lines and isoplethe laid over a3 dotted lines, highlighted in blue in some sections for clarity. ‘Three areas are marked. Meteorology Tssu0 5 Sroe ese 5 ~~ Meteorotogyeld at high {attdes ty spplies i the Global Distribution of Upper Winds We have seen that the thermal component dominates the ‘upper winds, and ag it is hot at the equator and cold at the poles, giving a westerly thermal component, we would expect to find that upper winds are generally westerly ‘This is only partly true. When you are standing at the equator the temperatures in the Northern and Southern hemispheres hear you are about the same, s0 there is ny touperaiure gradient in the troposphere and therefore there ean be no thermal component st and near the equator. This means that, the upper wind, the vector sum of the low-level wind and the thermal component, is the low-level wind plus zero, and the upper winds match the low level winds. These ‘are light fasterles, so there is @ band of light easterly winds from the Surface to the tropopause that blows round the equatorial Using the same logic you will see that the upper winds at the poles should also mirror the low level winds. ‘These, too, are Tight easterlies, Figure 7.5.9 Finally, the temperature gradient from a hot equator to cold poles applies only in the troposphere. In the stratosphere, the temperature gradient is reversed, and it ls colder over the equator than over the poles. As we saw earlier on the tropopause is higher and colder at the equator than at the poles, and in the low stratosphere temperatures remain Meteorology ees SOS~*~Sroughly constant as height increases, so at about FL60O itis, 75°C at the equator and -45°C at the poles, Figure 7-5-9 ilkastrates these points. To find the strongest westerlies, therefore, we have to look where the temperature gradient has the most effect. That is as ‘high as we can go before the reversing temperature gradient in the stratosphere begins to cancel the effect of the gradient in the troposphere. This is just about at tropopause level, usually just below the tropopause but sometimes just above it, in the low stratosphere. The strong upper winds we find are the Jetstreams we met earlier, and the World Meteorological (Organisation (WMO) definition is: Jetstream A strong narrow current of air on nearly horizontal {axis in the upper troposphere or low stratosphere, ‘characterised by strong lateral and vertical windshears. The wind speed must be more then ot ‘Typically, they will be some thousands of km long, a few hhundreds of lem wide and 10,000f deep. This is a depth to width ratio ofabout 1 to 100. Strong windshear means that the Wind vector changes rapidly over relatively short distances, In 4 typical jetstream, the windspeed may go from 60Kkt to 150kt in 150k, or in $000 vertically. This windshear produces considerable lear air turbulence, or CAT, ‘The qlobal circulation of air carrying the excess heat energy from the equator to the poles divides the troposphere into three main blocks, hot tropical air atthe equator, warm subtropical air from about Latitude 30° to Latitude 80°, and cold polar air. ‘There are marked temperature gradients at the boundary between the polar and sub-tropical air, called the polar front, ‘and at the more diffuse boundary between the tropical and subtropical air - the sub-tropical high pressure regions ~ and i is at these points of maximum temperature gradient that we find the strongest jetstreams, called the polar front jets and the ‘subtropical jets respectively a0 eae ee cmc) “Those are typist figures ond concompass the Windspeed Is over irmace‘Tropical Easterlios fon the cold side Figure 7-540 Im the winter of the hemisphere you also have an Arctic jet stream, caused by the long polar night which cools the polar fir even further forming an arctic alr mass. The temperature difference between the polar air and the arctic air is now fuficient to cause a jet to develop. The core is found at about, 20,0008 Figure 7-541 Occasionally the cooling is so severe that the stratosphere also cools and then the Polar night jet forms. This is found at about, 70° latitude and at about 80,000, so it has no effect on commercial fights, Motoorelony esue 5 at‘The jets are marked with the conventional signs for a low ‘arrow coming toward you on the left, and going into the paper ‘on the right after running east. Check this in your mind with Buys Ballots law, remembering that the geosirophic effect is reversed in the Southern hemisphere. Figure 7542 At these boundaries, the less dense warmer air always overlies the colder air. As the point of maximum temperature gradient will be right across the dividing line the Jetstream ‘core at ‘eight will always end up in the warmer air. However, because of the slope, when you look at the situation in plan view the Jets, upper air features, will appear to be on the colder air side Of the surface position ofthe dividing ine Figure 7.543 Nearly all the met charts you will see mark surface positions of ‘weather features, s0 you can locate the positions of the polar rr Meteorology{ont jets by looking on the pole the polar front le of the surface postion of ‘The sub-tropical jets will be found on the pole side of the surface positions of the centres of the sib-trozieal high, pressure regions Low level jet streams Occasionally a jet stream of about 70 kts can form at about 5000f above the surface if there is a marked temperature Giflerence between the air masses there. They occur in the mid USA (Kansas and Nebraska) at night when the surface cools, fand in southern Germany when cold air pushes south at low level. Low level jetstreams move parallel to the cold front towards the surface low pressure, It is worth noting that low level jtstreams do not comply with ‘the World Met Organisation definition ofa jetstream, not being, In the upper troposphere or lower stratosphere. Westerly and Easterly Waves ‘The strong westerlies that blow at medium and high level in the mid-latitudes in both hemispheres will be disturbed by any large land masses or high mountains Meteorology Tsao 5 BasIn the Southern hemisphere there are no really significant land Dlocks south of Latitude 30° except the Andes range in Chile and the Southera Alps in South Island, New Zealand. In the Northern Hemisphere, there are the Rocky Mountains in North America, and the huge mountainous landmass of Asia, with the Himalayan ranges. ‘The result of this is that the airflow inthe Southern Hemisphere is relatively straight westerly. The polar front ‘mean position is also. stable on west-to-east line at about Tautude 4U"-30" Soutn, depending on the season. In the Northern Hemisphere the upper airflow is bent into a series of extremely large waves. These produce large changes in the pressure systems at height and at the surface, and in the position of the polar front mean line. The polar front mean line, And its associated jetstreams, is diverted South over the land ‘masses and North again over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, ‘The easterly upper flow is generally light, and significant waves are rare. The ane known instance occurs aver Aftica at around Tatitude1S*-20" North in July to September, where the easterlies can reach jet speeds, having been accelerated by the hheating in the Monsoon season over North India. Easterly upper waves at this time can affect surface pressures over West Aftica, producing a series of large line squalls of CB that rift out toward the Caribbean. These squalls are called West Aiean Tornados, although they are not tornados in the true Si ~”CseueS—~S*~*~*~*«Mte roto “The big westerly saves are the ‘Taere are only Nemisphere ‘Those are WestChapter 6 - Clouds, Precipitation & Thunderstorms f we understand the make-up of clouds, and their classification, we can forecast the weather and. the hhazards, like turbulence and icing, which are associated with them. We have seen that cloud can forn in both stable and unstable air. Stable air forms layered clouds, which fare given the generic name stratus, whilst unstable air Continues to ise, forming clouds of considerable vertical extent, called cumulus Classification of Cloud Clouds are named not only by their type but also by the height at which they occur. For temperate regions, "low" cloud with a base belbw 6,500f ‘above ground level (ag) carries no prefix. Ifthe cloudbase is ‘over 6500M al, it is claesified aa “medium” cloud and the ‘loud name is prefixed alto-. Ir the base is over 16,2008 ag, it is called *high’ cloud and prefixed cirro-. Thus a cioud may be ‘named citrostratus, indicating that its base is over 16,5002 dnd thet it has a layered structure, or altocumulus, meaning medium level cloud of cumulus form. These heights are factually 2000m and 5000m converted to feet, and are the averages. ‘The height canges are given in kilometres the table at gure 7- 6-1. Tris only necessary to remember the height divisions for temperate latitudes, Note that the prefixes could apply to higher clouds in the tropics or lower clouds in the: polar regions, ‘Meteorology Teoue 5ome She SR St | | 6-18km | | mage | 2-40m | 2-7am | 2-8km | [pte | Baow atm [ Seow atm | Bru zen | awe 44 ‘There is third prefix, nimbo-, which means rain bearing, 0 rnimbostratus is stratus type cloud from which drizzle, rain oF snow is falling, High Clouds ‘These are all of the cirrus family of clouds containing ice crystals rather than liquid water. Cirrus (ci) Figure 7.06.2 Detached clouds of white, delicate, feathery or fibrous appearance or white patches or bands. They appear to move ‘without any significant change in form or shape, _Cirrostratus (Cs) Figure 7.63 {A transparent white vel, not thick enough to obscure the sun for moon. Sunlight passing through it is strong erough that Shadows are til visible on the ground. The ice crysals refract the light to produce haloes around the sun or moon. Cirrocumulus (Ce) Regular, thin patches of high cloud, without shadows, with regular ‘ripples or lumps. Most of the elements have an apparent width of less than one degree, the apparent width of @ little finger held at arms length, ‘Meteorology “Teaue 5Medium Level Clouds Clouds of water or of a mixture of water and ice particles. Altocumulus (Ac) Figure 7.65 One or more layers of cloud comprising lumps or rolls which are oflen mare oF less merged and coloured white or Ere. Altostratus (As) Figure 7-66 ‘A uniform grey sheet of cloud. Through thinner forms of faltostratus the sun or moon may appear as though seen through ground glass, Altostratus does not produce haloes, nor are there shadows of ground objects. Light rain from thick. sltostratus may reach the ground, as above. een ete cca)Low Level Cloud Stratocumulus (Se) ‘Stratocurmulus is, in general, grey or whitish in appearance; it may cover the sky completely or be patchy. It is composed of rounded masses or rolla, which may or may not merge, these are often aligned in waves, Figure 7-67 ‘Though mainly formed by turbulence, it may also be formed as cumulis dies down and spreads out in the evening before dispersing. Turbulent stratocumulus can lead to marked icing conditions Ifthe temperatures are just below freezing, Stratus (St) A grey layer of cloud with a fairly uniform base, Thick stratus ‘may produce drizale or snow grains. Thin stratus may form in ‘moist air because of turbulence coupled with orographic lifting for surface cooling. Ragged patches of stratus may frm in rain for snow falling from a layer of altostratus or nimbostratus shove Meteorology Tss00 5 osNimbostratus (Ns) A thick layer of cloud, darker than either stratus or altostratus, with a less definite base from which rain or snow may be falling The sun or moon cannot be seen. Nimbostratus clouds are associated with frontal lifting and ean bbe found with bases in the band for either low or medium level clouds ‘Cumutas (Cu) A detached heap cloud with sharp outlines, particularly as it Gevelops. The sunlit parts are. brilliantly white and the strength of the vertical motion inside the cloud ean be inferred by observing the vigour ofthe rising domes or towers. Development can be very limited on oceasion resulting only in little pully white clouds or may continue through & considerable depth, leading to marked turbulence and icing. ‘Cumulonimbus (CB) ‘The ultimate in cumulus development. ‘The tops may reach very high levels, up to-20,000 ft over Europe annd over $5,000 ft in the tropics. oe TesiFigure 7.69 Cumulonimbus clouds show tremendous vigour and their tops become fibrous in appearance at ice particles predominate cover water droplets, They are associated with showers, hail and thunderstorms. Severe turbulence and severe icing is always to bbe expected in association with cumulonimbus clouds, Cloud Shapes Cloud types can be further described by shape, if it is distinctive. Some of the more common definitions are given, below ractus Clouds in the form of irregular or ragged shreds, brcken cloud. Stratus Fractus is shown in figure 7-6-10. ‘Metoorolony “Iseue 5Lenticutaris. Having the shape of a convex lens, or an almond Shown in figure 7-6-11 is Altocumulus Lenticularis, usually associated with mountain waves, Castellanus. Looking like the turrets of an old castle ‘Shown in figure 7-6-12 is Altocumulus Castellanus, Teeue 5 “MeteorologyCapillatus Figure 76-43 Applied only to Cumulonimbus clouds, the suffix capillatus implies cirrus elements in a layered oF disorderly pater, often fn the shape of an anvil. uri ‘Cumulus clouds of only small vertical extent Mediocris| ‘Cumulus clouds of moderate vertical extent Congestus ‘Cumulus clouds with marked “sprouting” normally with fairly extensive vertical extent, resembles a cauliflower, Meteorosy=—=~*~*~*~sweSSSS*~*~Scalvus ‘A.CB that is losing some of its cumuliform shape in the upper parts. The top appears as a whitish mass with some vertical [A ‘breast shaped’ cloudbase of cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds associated with imminent precipitation, Nebulosus Like a layer or veil with no distinct details, applies to Se, Ac fand sometimes Ce Floceus Ci, Coand Ac with a tuft of cumuliform cloud that is ragged at the bottom. Often with virga Fibratus Ci and Cs that are very thin and detached streaks of cloud ‘with no “hooks” at the ends or tufts Spissatus Ci clouds with sulicient thickness to appear grey eee tase 6 fea eneroUncinus Ci clouds that are shaped like a comma, with a “bosk" or tuft ‘and a streak, Sometimes called mares tal czrus Classification by Formation Mechanism AAs we noted, the type of cloud that is formed depends on the ‘mechanism responsible for its formation, Stratus cloud, formed in stable air, is restricted to low cloud some ling mechaniom that will earry the air to fgreat heights. The most common of these is at a front, the boundary between air masses. Ifthe stable air is the warmer, ‘and moving toward the colder air, it wil slide up the colder air, producing ‘stratus, altostratus and finally cirrostratus and cirrus, with nimbostratus mixed in at lower levels. ‘Cumulus cloud is formed by convection in unstable air, and only needs a trigger to start it off, producing small cumulus, large cumulus and finally cumulonimbus. Stratocumulus is formed when convection is capped by a stable lkyer or an inversion aloft, and altocumulus and cirrocumulus occur mainly when there is @ distinct layer of unstable air aloft in a generally stable air mass, Large cumulonimbus, which become _re-classified as thunderstorms when lightning and thunder start, will be described alter the next section on precipitation. “Meteorology issue 5 oatSpecial clouds Nacreous clouds. ‘The name means “mother of pearl” clouds, they exist in the lower stratosphere about 20 to 30km above the earth and look like Cl or Ac lenticularis. Their bright shiny appearance comes from reflected sunlight, Noctitucent clou Noctiucent clouds have only been reported since the eruption ‘of Krakatoa at the end of the 19% century. They are made of ice Crystals and exist in the mesosphere between 70 to 95km ‘above the earth. The name means “night light clouds", the light ‘coming from reflected sunlight as in nacreous clouds ena CS‘This photograph was taken from space, which is a co-incidence because there is some evidence that the ice-crystals in today's noctiicent clouds come from rocket engines. Contraits Figure 7.647 Contrails are formed by the extra moisture that is being added to the atmosphere behind a jet engine by the combustion process, I the ai is cold enough to overcome the heating effect ofthe exhaust then a contrail will orm. Polar Lights Meteorology teas 5‘The Aurora Borealis (northern lights) and Aurora Australis (southern lights) are not clouds, but are hydrogen atoms and fee electrons that are channelled by the earth's magnetic field towards the magnetic poles, glowing when they strike the earth's atmosphere. Precipitation Whatever falls out of a cloud, be it rain, sleet, hail or snow, is known as precipitation. The type of precipitation depends heavy on the type of cloud, an particular the strength Of Ue updrafts within it Precipitation is classified a fallow: Drizzle Very small drops of water, between about (0.2mm and 1.0mm in diameter. Dizae makes no ‘noticeable impact on a wator surface. Rain Water drops trom about 2.0mm to §.8mm in diameter. (Drops bigger than & Bmm break up when Taling because ofthe pressure fom the aio), Snow {ce in the form of crystals, in grains, neeales or ‘snowfokes, ‘Sleet ‘A mixture of rain and snow. bait 16s inthe form of petets or bas Water vapour needs something to condense on to, calle condensation nuclei, typically smoke, dust and ice or sal crystals, In extremely clean air without condensation nucle it Js possible for vapour saturation to go beyond 100% and the air may become supersaturated. Relative humidities in excess ‘9 400% have been reached in laboratory tests. Im nature some of these nuclei are hygroscopic (lke salt crystals) and because they attract the water vapour, ‘condensation can occur before saturation is reached, "This ‘explains why mist and fog sometimes forms with the RH below 100%. Drizzle and Rain ‘There are two theories that attempt to explain why water droplets or ice should grov inside clouds. Neither gives the complete answer, but both have something to offer. ‘Theory A. Water is known to exist as a liquid below O°C, when it is sald to be supercooled. Such water droplets can be mixed with ice crystals in cloud above the freezing level. Ifthe air 8 Stl rising and water vapour is continuing to condense it will oa ~S~CUewo Meteorology Note the practical meteorologists ‘ain and arisee @ tend to sublimate directly onto the mucleus of an joe crystal rather than condensing as small, supercooled water droplets. ‘The crystals grow until a point at which they cannot be supported by the existing updraft. As they fall, they grow by colliding with the supercooled drops and below the freezing level they melt and become rain. ‘Theory B. Liquid drops grow in size because they elie with, other drops. If an updraft is supporting drops of various sizes the smaller ones will move up faster than the larger ones and therefore they wil collide. When the size of the comsined drop too large to be supported it will fall, bumping into other irops on the way down and so groving even larger. ‘Theory A seems to explain why, in practice, rain does not fall from cumulus cloud until the cloud tops have passed the freezing level, at least in temperate climates. In tie tropics, hhowever, and in stratus cloud, rain falls from cloud where the temperature is *5°C or more, and there are suggestions that small particles like dust may’ take the place of ice -rystals as the condensation nuclei. The seeding of cumulus douds with silver iodide exystals does sometimes produce rain, and this, too, supports the nucleus theory. On the other hanc, Theory B seems to explain the formation of raindrops in stratus cloud at temperatures above freezing, In reality it may be a mixture of both, ‘Snow Snow is precipitation in the form of ice erystala, which form above the O°C level in the cloud. As the ice crysta's fall from Meteorology TssueS easthe cloud, they are warmed by the higher air temperatures below. If their temperature is raised to zero, they wil begin to melt. Melting, though, requires an input of latent energy awn from the surrounding ait. The alr temperature wil fall fand the 0°C level will be lower in the snowfall than in the air ulside. Ifthe snow has to fall through more than about 1500 of air above O°C i will melt completely and reach the ground as rain; this equates to a ground level temperature of about 3 ae, Hail is associated only with cumulonimbus clouds. The Uupdrafts in these clouds are very strong and itis possible for fn ice crystal atthe top of the cloud to fall, gathering moisture around it as it does s0, and then be lifted up again by the Uupdrafta. Now the erystal is refrozen ag a larger Imp of ioe, before falling, pezhaps to be lifted ance again. Figure 7-620 ‘A large hailstone, when cut apart, will show rings similar to the ings in a tree trunk, each corresponding to a falling and rising cycle within the highly convective cloud. The hailstone will fall 4 the ground when it gets too heavy or when the updraft ‘throws the hailstone away from the top ofthe cloud, Hall has been observed in clear air several miles away from the parent thunderstorm and although hailstones are normally only a few millimetres in diameter, Figure 7-6-20 shows an aggregate bailstone, made of sinaller stones combined, approximately 150mm in diameter which weighed more than & dlogram. Weteorology 45,0008Warm and wet at land dry above and Something to ckestart the process connection pearance of severity of ting & Figure 7.621 In temperate latitudes hail big enough to damage aireraft has bbeen encountered as high as 45,000, and halstones of 100mm in diameter have been encountered at 10,000ft in severe thunderstorms. Figure 7-6-21 shows in flight hail damage sustained by « B73. Thunderstorms ‘Thunderstorms are an extreme form of cumulonimbus cloud where the activity is intense enough to produce thunder and lightning. For auch a cloud to form there must be a deep layer of instability, Effectively the ELR must be greate- than the SALR for over 10,000R. Considerable moisture is needed, particularly at low level and an adequate trigger acton to start liking the air, These factors can come together at any time of the day oF night. Single Cell Thunderstorms ‘Thunderstorms exist in three basic forms, single-cell, multi-cell and super-cell. The single-cell storm is the basic single cumulus cloud that develops into CB and then to a ‘thunderstorm, before dying away. It has a relatively short life, fand is not aa intense aa the other two. One point le remember fs that there is no Useful correlation between the external ‘appearance of a thunderstorm and the severity of icing and ‘nufbulence inside the cloud, “Meteorology Issue 5 6A7qa & fit Thee Geeta Sle nem Figure 7.622 ‘The life cycle ofa single-cell thunderstorm can be divided into three phases, the developing stage, the mature stage and the decay, During the developing phase, there is a general upward movement - updrafts of 3000fpm to 4000fpm are possible and tops have been measured rising at 5000fpm. The convection is neither simple nor tidy; turbulence mixes the rising air with the ‘cold dry air of the environment aloft, limiting the development of the cloud. The various currents of air produce ‘moderate to severe turbulence within the elotd, and clear air turbulence outside the cloud as the environmental air is drawn, in. ‘There is no precipitation. The development phase will last ‘bout 15-20 minutes in a single-cell storm, During the mature stage water drops start to fall through the cloud drawing alr down with them. If there is no. strong windshear aloft in the environment, and the development of ‘the CB is vertical, this downdraft will probably be in the middle of the storm surrounded on all sides by strong. continuing updrafts which are providing further warm moist air as fuel for the storm Downdrafts are around 3000fpm to 4000%pm and can reach ‘6000fpm in very severe storms. Updrafts can be around 5000fpm to 6000{pm, although 10,000{pm has been recorded When the downdraft breaks out of the base of the CB it is colder than the surrounding environmental air, as it has only been warming at the SALR during its descent within the cloud. AAs it is cooler and therefore denser the downdraft may continue down to the surface where it can often be felt as the Virst gust. If the precipitation that accompanies the downdraft is recevaporated in dry air below the cloudbase, then this asus 5 Meteorology 000%» i 6oKt vertical wind Speed.‘Tue active stage, ‘the mature stage, laste about 1 hour evaporation will cool the slug of descending air stil further, intensifying the downdratt. As the air reaches the surface it spreads out to create the highly dangerous pattern of winds that cause low level, wwindshear. Windshear and the particularly intense downdrafts, fare called microbursts are ‘covered in the chapter on. trbulence. Two factors combine to bring to an end the activity in a single- cell thunderstorm. Mixing of the rising air with the dry, cold ‘environment reduces the instability in dhe cloud nd he increasing downdrafts, centrally placed in the cloud, suppress the thermal updrafts and halt convection. The activ: period of ‘3 single-cell storm is less than one hour, 80 the mature stage Tasts about 30-40rain, ‘There is range of hazards to be found within a thunderstorm, Severe icing and curbulence, radio static, Interference with ‘avaids, pitot blockage in the rain and icing, static Hlockage by ice ~ the list is long, Lightning can be an additional hazard in the mature phase of a storm caused by a build-up of electrical potential within the ‘loud. The upper cloud collects a postive charge, the lower a negative charge. When the potential reaches a eriteal level i discharges as lightning, Inside the cloud, therefore, jghtning is, ‘usually found from S000R below to S000R above the freezing level, that is at cloud temperatures from +10°C to 10°C. The presence or absence of lightning is not, however, an indication ofthe severity ofthe storm. Meteorology Tesue 5 a9‘St Elmo's Fire is another electrical discharge phenomenon, blue glow around windscreens and external parts of the sireralt Electrical charges do not normally penetrate inside conductive shells like aircraft, so lightning damage to the structure is ‘usually only burning and small punctures at the point of strike fand discharge. The induced voltages are high, however, can ‘magnetise the structure rendering the magnetic compasses ‘useless, and can damage unshielded electrical equipment, The fash can temporarily bind the crew. Figure 7.624 ‘The final stage laste until the storm is spent, up to 2 hours, and is marked by the cessation of continuous rain and the beginning of sporadic showers, ‘The vertical currents weaken ‘and the air within the cloud subsides more than it ascends, fausing the cloud to collapse. The higher levels take on the familiar anvil appearance as upper winds spread. the ice crystals. Light rain showers continue to fll, sometimes, again, evaporating in the dry air before they reach the ground. This trailing "Viga" is a characteristic of decaying thunderstorms, During its Ife eycle the single-cell thunderstorm moves in line with the medium level winds, generally taken to be the 10,0008 (700m) wind, Multi-Cell Thunderstorms Single-cell thunderstorms are relatively rare, and occur as Isolated or occasional storms over wide areas, usually triggered by thermal heating. It is more usual for several single-cell storms to form together in clusters several kilometres across, fr in lines, when they are called line squalls. Figure 7-6-2 shows a doppler radar image of a line squall e20 Tesue 5 ~~ Meteorotogy‘These multi-cell storms may exist as active storms for several hhotrs, while the individual single-cell storms form and die within the cluster ‘The Super-Cell Thunderstorm ‘A more intense type of thunderstorm is the super-ell storm. ‘This requires rather diferent start conditions to the single-cel Figure 746-26 Meteorology 21‘There should be a good supply of warm moist air at low level, preferably held down by a thin stable layer above, so that the energy supply is not dissipated by turbulence or small-scale convection before a big trigger breaks through and sets off a ‘thunderstorm. Additionally, there should be a change of direction and strengthening of the winds aloft, which will tlt the CB tower. What happens then ie that the updraft is no longer on the same axis as the downdraft, but the two exist side by side, fenabling the convection to continue without restriction. At the Same ‘time, the increased size and intensity of the storm isolates the central core of the canvection from the cold, dey environmental air, allowing it to reach high vertical speeds, ‘This carvies hail aloft and takes the top of the storm through the tropopause. A diagram of a super-cell thunderstorm is at figure 7-627 ‘A Super-Cell Thunderstorm, Figure 7.627, ‘The conditions needed for super-cell thunderstorms — warm air below, cold dry air aloft with strong upper winds ~ occur most frequently at the boundary between sub-tropical and polar air, ‘The main area for super-cells is in the central area of the American Mid-West, although they have been recorded in Baroy, fom Spain to the UK They are aot opel oz Tesue "Meteorology‘Tho core size no greater than @ four hundred ‘These large and self-sustaining super-cell storms can last for several hours in their flly active state, giving severe icing and furbulence, clear air turbulence outside and above the storm, lightning and heavy rain and hail Hall can follow any of three paths in the storm, being flung aloft into the anvil, where it can be found as high as the tropopauise, falling as part of the general precipitation, and Sometimes being caught and re-cirealated in the mein updraft before falling as a cascade of large intense hail at the front edge ofthe precipitation zone, Downdrafts are particularly intense, and the cold downdraft foreing itself under the warm air at the surface can produce ‘severe guste and low level windshear at a gust front. Super-cel storms tend to move at an angle tothe medium level wind and at a different speed, either 20° to the right and Slower, oF 20° to the left and faster, the 20” right and slower ‘option being more common in the Northern Hemisphere. This Js because the thunderstorm is becoming large enough to begin to circulate as a small but active depression ‘Tropical Thunderstorms ‘Tropical thunderstorms are less clearly understood. Their mechanism is roughly similar t the standard storm, though they tend to organise themselves in line squalls, Their energy content is higher because the saturated air entering at the bottom can carry twice the weight of water varour as in temperate latitude storms. The anvil head streams off behind the storm in the Southwest and Northwest monsoons rather than in front, as it does in temperate latitude storms, because of the different relationship between the medium and ‘tropopause level winds. Tornados ‘Tomados are very intense circulating lows of smal! diameter, too stall to show on pressure charis although the pressure at the centre can be very low, and wind speeds can exceed 200kt ‘The diameter of the core can be from a few metres to a few hundred metres ‘The mechanism that starts tornados is not fully understood, but it seems to be a mechanical swirling that occurs when air currents move sharply in opposite directions. The most fextreme of these conditions gecure when the cold downdraft from a thunderstorm passes through and cuts under the ‘updraft of warm air. Once the circulation is established the strong inward convergence and updraft under the Meteoroloay ~tasue S| oathunderstorm intensifies and narrows the tornado, increasing the speed of rotation and making the pressure fall sharply. Condensation in the low pressure, the visible part of the tornado, is then seen descending from cloudbase 10 the ‘round. Figure 7-628 ‘As the conditions necessary for tornado formation are found rear large thunderstorms, super-cell thunderstorms inthe ‘central plains of the USA are often accompanied by tornados formed at their edges, Nevertheless, tornados of limited force ‘occur in Europe and anywhere where strong instability and convective activity exists. Dire and debris, together with water condensing out in the very low pressure and temperature at the centre make them visible fg twisting funnel shaped features descending from the cloud above. In fact, the circulation can exist embedded in the thunderstorm ‘cloud and as the pressure and windspeed conditions can be fatal to aircraft, all clouds showing symptoms of tornado formation should be avotded Waterspouts are tomado type features formed over water, and funnel Cloud is a generic description of tornado type cloud that does not reach ground level, Teeue 5 "MeteorologyChapter 7 - Turbulence ‘bumpy conditions caused by a sharp change in wind speed or direction, vertically or horizontally, over a short distance. Clear Air Turbulence (CAT) is ‘turbulence encountered out of cloud, in clear air. There is ‘some overlapping and confusion over the use of the terms turbulence, clear alr turbulence and windshear in Meteorology. In general, the following usage applies T= in the airmass is a general des:ription of ‘Turbulence ‘Turbulence is used in the general sense to include both turbulence in cloud and out of cloud. There is an aviation, efiniion of turbulence: Turbulence Variation inthe wind along the srcaf's ght path of 2 pattern, intensy and duration that disturbs the ‘craft's attitude about is major axes but does not ‘significantly alert fight path (On forecasting charts turbulence in cloud is indicated and reported in a different way fom CAT, and references to “nurbulence” in that context may mean turbulence inside cloud nly. Clear Air Turbulence Clear Air Turbulence is used in the general sense to refer to ‘turbulence not in cloud. In a more restricted sense, it refers to CAT associated with jetstreams, and this aleo has speciic reporting symbols in te forecast charts Meteorology “issue 5 7AWindshear Windshear is @ sharp change of wind speed or direction over a short distance, vertially or horizontally, and is the cause of turbulence. In'a more restricted sense it refers to changes of the wind vector which can. affect aircraft performance, especially in landing and take-off, as in the windshear ‘warnings issued for take-off or landing. This is reflected in the fvition definition of windshear Windshear Variation in wind spe0d andlor direction along the aircraft's fight path of pattem, intensity and ‘duration that displaces the aircraft abruptly trom its intended path, such that substantia corrective Control action is require Horizontal windshear is any winéshear you encounter when flying level, including any vertical gusts you may fly into. Figure 7.744 Vertical windshear is windshear you encounter when climbing, for descending, as, for example, when leaving the top of an Inversion. ‘The primary effect of vertical gusts - not vertical windshear— is fan abrupt change in angle of attack, which may lead to loversiress or a stall, Angle of attack may be referred to in the ‘exam as angle of incidence. ese 5 ‘Meteorology: : Figure 7.7.2 Classifying the Severity of Turbulence ICAO break the severity of turbulence into three categories, light, moderate and severe. Light Conditions loss than moderate turbulence. Changes in acceleremeter readings less than 0.8 gat tho ‘averaft’s contre of gravy’ ‘Moderate Conditions in which moderate changes i aireraft atitude andr alttude may occur but the araft ‘remains in postive corr at alltmes. Usual, small ‘variations nar speed. Changes in accolyometer readings of 05 g fo 1.0 atthe arcraf'scontre of gravity. Difieuty in walking. Occupants fee! strain ‘gaint seat bol. Loose objects move about Severo Conditions in which abrupt changes in afcrat atttude andor alttude occur, aircraft abe out of ‘ont for short pertods. Usually large variations fo airspeed. Changes in accelerometer readings ‘greater than 1.0 9 athe arerafs centre of gravy. Gccupants are forced volenty against seat bets. Loose abject ae tossed about. “Meteorology Issues 7Jetstream CAT Meteorotogy‘The CAT will be at a maximum where the windshear is greatest, Maximum CAT at a jetstream is found level with or just below the height of the jet core, in the warm cir, but on. ‘the cold air side ofthe jet. ‘The cold air side of the jet is also the low pressure side of the Jet at core height, asthe relationship between air mass temperature and pressure at height would confirm. Note that the tropopause is lower in the cold air. Turbulence at Fronts We would expect turbulence whenever there is windshear, a ‘marked change in windspeed or direction. We have already noticed the CAT but turblulence also occurs lower dawn at the frontal surfrace because of the change in wind direction Figure 7-7-5. shows the surface isobars around a Northern Hemisphere frontal system. Remembering that the free steam wind flows along the isobars we can see there is a change in ‘ind direction of 20° or so atthe frontal surface; Surface igobars - change in W/V at front Figure 7.7.5 ‘Turbulence at a cold front, with embedded CB, will be an defined mixture of convective and frontal turbulence. At @ ‘warm front, the cloud will be stratiform, and any turbulence will be due to the frontal windshear, called turbulence in the Cloud and CAT outside it ‘The most significant hazard generated by frontal windshear comes at low level, when aircraft can pass through the frontal Surface on the approach to landing, or after take-of, Here the Meteorology ~Tesue 75problem is not the turbulence but the direct effect of the windshear on take-off or landing performance - refer back to the aviation definition of windshear ~ where the wind vector changes rapidly enough to seriously affect the intended flightpath. This is particularly critical at cold fronts, for while the warm front susface position moves fairly steadily, the cold font surface position stalls briefly and then rapidly jumps forward several miles, bringing very sudden gusts and wind shifts. Figure 7-7-6 illustrates the effect on an aircraft crossing frontal surface on the final approach. Figure 7-7-6 Here there is a shift of wind direction through the front. A 25kt hheadwind suddenly becomes a 15kt headwind. The aircraft's Inertia carries it on momentarily at the same TAS, the IAS Grops by 10kt, and the aircraft begins to sink. At the same time frontal turbulence produces some control difficulties. Troughs, Convergence and Divergence ‘A trough isa line of low pressure created by the circulation of air. Figure 7-7-7 shows & trough out over the Aulantic at the SOOmb level on a contour chart, about 18,000R. Where the Contour lines, the isohypses, are closest together will be the ‘greatest wind speed. The windshear associated with a trough ‘ill certainly generate turbulence. ‘The low pressure and convergence associated with a trough is also. likely to produce convective cloud, showers and thunderstorms, The turbulence caused by the horizontal 78 Tesue 5 ~~ Meteorologywindshear at the trough may be entirely masked by the ‘urbulence generated in the cloud. Figure 777 Convergence and divergence can also lead to windsbear which in tum leads to turbulence. Figure 7-7-6 shows @ contour chart for the 300mb level, about 30,0008, with low contours lover Sardinia. Convergence generates convective cloud whereas divergence does not so, although there may be turbulence in ‘both areas, itis likely t0 be masked in cloud over Afsica and in clear air over southern Italy. pay ‘Meteorology sue 5 7CAT Near Thunderstorms ‘There is severe turbulence inside CB and thunderstorms, but there is also a considerable risk of clear air turbulence outside the cloud, and above and below it. Turbulence outside the cloud is eaused by the inflow of air to the ascending CB tower, land recommended avoidance limits are: In visual right ‘Avoid by 10nm when weather radar isin use the echoes show the core of the cloud not the edge so the avoidance eriteria are greater, Avoid the echoes by: 0-250 10% FL250-300 15m (Over F300 200m You are also warned not to overly the top by less than S000, nor to fly under the anvil, although the warning about flying Under the anvil relates to hail rather than to CAT. CClear air turbulence beneath a CB or a thunderstorm ie caused by the updrafts and downdrafts, and can be severe. The cold air descending from a thunderstorm ean also run ahead of the storm producing a mini cold front with windshear, turbulence and equally conditions Figure 7-7-9 shows the cloud associated with @ gust front under a continental thunderstorm, CTGust fronts can extend at worst to 24 to 32km (15 to 20nm) sshead of the thunderstorm and up to 6000%. When there is a line or there are group of thunderstorms gust fronts can ‘extend to twice this distance, Windshear has been measured at ‘up to SOkt and O0deg in direction through shallow layers. Turbulence Inside Thunderstorms ‘Turbulence inside thunderstorms ig @ result of the updrafts tanid dows drafts, bout OORt aad 40K sespevtively. Tasbulence ‘will be moderate to severe ‘This hazard is best avoided with weather radar. Berly radars record the signal strength of the echoes, which is based on raindrop size and concentration, $0 they do not show ‘turbulence directly. Doppler radars record the moversent of the raindrops and therefore do show turbulence in cloud. While ‘maximum signal strength is displayed in red, turbulence is displayed in magenta or occasionally, white. Microbursts Figure 7740 ‘The microbuurst is an extreme form of windshear generated by the shig of descending air that comes from a thunderstorm cell. These downdrafts average around 3-4000{pm. but have been measured at 6000fpm, 60kt, and when they hit the round they can flow out at SOkt in one direction and SOkt in Meteorology TesueSthe opposite direction. This gives a vector change in the surface ‘wind of 100kt over a relatively short distance ~ few km. They last for only a few minutes, but the combination of downdraft ‘and rapid wind reversal can be fatal, ‘The aircraft at A in Sgure 7-7-10 has reached the first sector of the microburst. The headwind is increasing rapidly to SOK, TAS has gone up, and the aircraft wil go high on the gldepath, The pilot reduces power and increases flap setting to compensate, and just as this is taking effec, the aircraft is hit by the downdraft and the headwind changes to tailwind, IAS falls and the aircraft sinks below the glidepath at B. At C the pilot has started his missed approach procedure, but the IAS is. stl falling as the tailwind is stil increasing Recovery will depend on the power, height and speed reserves, available. The “substantial corrective ction’ required is a ‘maximum alpha and full power overshoot ‘The downdratt is initiated by precipitation, and is often marked by a column of rain. Ifthe air below the cloudbase is relatively ry, and the precipitation reevaporates, giving a ‘dry” ‘mieroburst, the windshear will be worse. The evaporation will cool the slug of descending alt, making it more dense and Increasing the downdraft speed, Tesue 8 MeteorologyFigure 7-7-11 shows a digital ground radar plot of a group of ‘thunderstorms in California that produced a wet microburst. ‘Studies of microbursts have shown that the downburst can be 1 to diam across. The most dangerous condition occurs in the firat few minutes after the downdraft hits the grovind, although the downdraft can continue at lesser intensity for up to 15min, ‘Typical "speeds give a wind vector change through the ricroburst of about SOkt, but they can reach 75mn/s or 150kts ‘A macroburst is similar but covers a bigger area and is classed fas such when it exceeds 4m across ‘There sre two principal systems in use to give warning of microburste at airfields. One is a fleld of anemometers Surrounding the airfield set some 5 to 10nm out. These are Linked to the control tower and display the pattern of surface winds on the approach, This is called the Low Level Windshear Alert System (LLWAS). The second is low frequency doppler radar, used to directly measure wind vectors around. the ssifiel, Tornados ‘Tornados aze narrow vertical funnels of alr rotating at high speed. The character and formation of tornados was discussed, ‘earlier. Windspeeds of 200kts are common, and the pressure [at the centre ofthe tornada is exceptionally low - low enough to ‘explode an aircraft ‘The formation of tornados 8 associated with severe thunderstorms, and as severe thunderstorms ~ super-cell storms - are frequently found in the Great Plains of North ‘America this is where tornados are also often found, They can ‘ccur in many other places, including Europe. A tornado destroyed an aircraft just after take-off at Amsterdam in October 1981. “Meteorology issue 5 TatFigure 7-742 Figure 7-7-12 shows a digital ground radar image of a supercell containing @ tornado. The tornado is at the end of & hooked shape radar return. Hook shaped returns indicate supercells and possible tornado formation, needless to say they should be avoided a2 issue 5Windshear at Inversions and in The Boundary Layer We know that the surface wind will be slower than the free stream wind - conventionally called the 200M wind - and will be blowing from a. different direction. Climbing from the surface to the free-stream wind, or descending on the ‘approach, will therefore take you through vertical vindshear. ‘Thies not normally signifaant, unless the fee-stresm wind is very strong or there is a temperature inversion present, which prockices a very sharp boundary between the alflaw above and below the inversion. The critical conditions are: A free-stream wind of over 40kt, Ths implies turbulence in the boundary layer, and, over land, at Teast a 20kt speed and 40" heading diference between the surface wind and the fre- stream. ‘A vector difference between the surface and the free. stream wind of 40ktor more. This is saying approximately the same thing as above. AA temperature inversion of 10°C or more in the first 1000R agl. This will completely isolate the slow surface ‘wind from the fast ftee-stream wind above the inversion, giving marked windshear in the climb or escent and clear air turbulence near the top of the ‘The presence of a turbulence inversion. Here, too, the inversion will produce a sharp windshear boundary betwen the turbulent airflow below the inversion, and the smooth free-stream airflow above. 1° there is turbulence cloud present - below the inversion - then it will probably be Sc, with moderate to severe turbulence, and the possibility of moderate clear icing it the temperature is inthe icing range, It is not a coincidence that these conditions are used to {generate mandatory warnings of windshear or turbulence. Meteorology ewes a3‘Standing waves in the troposphere occur when a stable air ‘mass blows at moderate speed over a range of hills or ‘mountains, There is turbulence aloft that often extends into the low stratosphere, but the severe hazards - turbulence and downdrafts- are found near the surface ‘The conditions required for the production of standing waves, for mountain waves or lee waves as tney are also called, are" + Awind of 15kt or more over small mountains, to 30kt or more over large mountains + Wind speed increasing steadily with height up to the tropopause + Wind direction roughly constant up to the tropopause + Wind direetion within 20° of the perpendicular to the ridgeline + Astable air mass, However, the strongest waves occur ‘where there is a very strong stable layer, perhaps an inversion, at ridge height, with rather less stable air, but not unstable air, above and below When these conditions are met, the air mass forms the stable wave pattem shown in figure 7-7-13. CErEsemaser eee eb sd tet ye Figure 77-413, ‘The area of maximum turfnlence is at about the height of the ridge, and one wavelength downwind. The wavelength depends Tesue 5 Meteorology‘hind Pll, fon windspeed and ridge height, but for ordinary European, Conditions it wll be 5 to 10 nm In this first peak the wave formation may be strong enough 10 start a horizontal rotor, with rotating roll cloud ifthe humidity fs high enough. The “Helm Bar" of Cross Fell in the UK is a well known example of this effect. Turbulence in rotors is severe. Sometimes the rotors break off and stream away downwind carrying their furbulence with them. Note that rotors and rotor Streaming can occur in the lee of ridges even when the upper sir conditions are not right for standing wave formation, Flying with the wind over the ridge itself produces no serious problems, but fying into wind means that you will ke tying to ‘limb to clear the ridge when the downdraft is forcing you down. This is not a hazard only for light aircraft. There have been several near disasters to clil alfliners caught in these conditions, and one case of an aireraft broken up in ight that ‘may have been due to wave turbulence, Other visual clues to standing waves are cap cloud over the ridge and the lens. shaped lenticular - cloues, formed wherever there is a layer of moist air aloft that is cooled below ‘ew point in the rising part of the wave. ‘The turbulence from standing waves can be felt right up into the low stratosphere, and as the start conditions call for a moderate low level wind that steadily increases with height, standing waves are often, but not always, associated with jetstreams aloft, The wave effects can persist for up to 100mm downwind, depending on the size of the hills and the windspeed. Wake Turbulence Large aircraft at high angles of attack generate severe wake turbulence in the form of wingtip rotors. Wake turbulence starts on take-off as the aircraft rotates, and on finals does not fend until the aircraft nose goes down on the landing rol. The rotors move outwards at about Skt, so turbulence behind aireratt is most dangerous in light erosswinds, the crosswind palling one rotor back onto the centreline. Winds straight down the centreline are less critical, and strong crosswinds will move the rotors off the lightpath and will destroy the rotors to some degree, Current ICAO regulations require 2 minutes or ‘nm clearance for a heavy alreraft behind a heavy aireraft on approach or departure Motooroloay wes TSIntentionally Blank Taso 5 MeteorologyChapter 8 - Icing & Poor Visibility Icing cing in its three forms, airframe icing, jet intake icing and carburettor icing, isan insidious and dangerous phenomenon. It adds weight to the aircraft, and just when You need more lit to compensate, it destroys lift as wel. It also adds drag, and then reduces thrust. sos wine Figure 7844 For a good deal of your flying time you may encounter only light or moderate icing, and be lulled into a false sense of security. ‘Then, when all the conditions come together for ‘severe icing you an be Taced with serious control problems or ‘even multiple engine failure Meteoroloay sues eaAirframe leing Except for hoar frost, which we deal with later, you will nat get airframe icing if you are fying in air above O°C, for the airframe will also be above 0°C, and any ice will melt and come off. It is igo true that ice as a solid will not stick to aircraft, and the mechanism that brings about aitftame icing depends on the presence of supercooled water. Supercooled water does not exist below about -45°C, and these factors define the range of temperatures where you might expect airframe leing, fom O"C to 45°C, Figure 7.82 Although you expect water to freeze at 0°C, it can remain liquid at temperatures lower than this if it is’ very pure. This is, however, an unstable state. If itis contaminated or sulfers any physical’ shock it reverts to the stable state, this at these emperatures would be ice. Drops of water in cloud can be very pure, and can remain as supercooled water down to ‘minus 45°C, as we said, but revert to the stable state i hit by ‘an aircraft. We need to look atthe heat energy involved. Consider a cloud at -10°C, full of supercooled water drops [SCWD) also at -10°C. A one gram water drop would be, at 1 calorie. per degree centigrade, 101 calories short of the heat energy it would have had at O°C. When the drop ia hit by an aireraft, it begins to revert to its stable state, changing into ice ‘As it does so, the latent heat of fasion of water - 80 calories per gram ~is released, raising the temperature of the drop. se MeteorologyFor every degree of supercooting| Wo lcing above 45%. Cloar ice ‘near O°, rime leo By the time about one eighth of the drop has tumed to ice about 10 calories have been released, raising the temperature of the ice and water drop to 0°C. Thus, almost instantaneously fon impact, one eighth of the drop changes to ice, and the remaining seven eighths to water at O°C. The ice is glued to the leading edge, and the rest of the water runs bac over the sir rame, freezing as it goes in the -10C environment. It ‘works out, therefore, that for every one degree of supercooling fone eightieth of a SCWD will change to ice on impact, the rest ‘running back over the airframe as water, and freezing as clear ioe. ‘The ice that is formed instantaneously will trap dissolved air, ‘and will form white, crunchy, easily broken and easily cleared ime ice. The freezing water wil form clear, hard, durable clear jee, that will cover. static vents, Jam control hinges and Undercarriage locks, caver aerials and generally cause all sorts of hazards. It follows, therefore, from the way the ice forms, that you will get the highest proportion of dangerous clear ice in loud at temperatures just below O°C. At lower temperatures ‘you will get a higher proportion of the relatively innocuous ime ioe, In fact, by about -25°C only the smallest water drops ‘will remain Unirozen as SCWD, so from -29°C down all the Jeing will be rime ice ~ and light rime icing at that. Meteorology Taso 5eebeESES ee Figure 7-84 you get the worst quality of airframe ice at temperatures just below O°C, where do jou get the worst quantity? You wil get a faster build-up of ice if you fly faster, but if you fly at a very high TAS kinetic heating will go some way to easing the problem. A subsonic aircraft with rounded leading edges will Send pressure waves ahead to divert SCWD around the wings ‘while a supersonie aireralt with sharp leading edges will collect ‘more ice. Normally, however, your type of aircraft and ‘operating speed is already determined, so we will eave these ‘Out of consideration forthe time being, Other factors being equal, you will get the most rapid build-up of ice where there is the highest concentration of the largest 'SCWD. To get large SCWD held aloft the cloud must be active convective cloud, Cu, CB and thunderstorms. Even then, the highest concentration of SCWD will be found in eloud where the incoming air at the base of the cloud holds the most Al this comes together to tell you that you will get the worst airframe icing possible in tropical CB, at temperatures just Delow 0%, and anyone who has flown through a tropical ‘thunderstorm would confirm that. The ero degree isotherm is ft ground level in the polar regions, msl to about 10,000f in winter and summer in temperate regions and about 14,0008 16,0008 in the tropics. However, inside Cu and CB the freezing level can be substantially above or below the mean level in the clear air, as the updrafts and downdraft take it oo ‘warm saturated fir coming in st ast betow ove veingIcing in Clouds We can now make a forecast of the type and severity of icing ‘we could expect in various types of cloud. Stratus cloud is not going to hold large SCWD, whereas cumulus type cloud will Keep large SCWD aloft, and turbulent Sc, becavse of the energy in the turbulence layer can also hold large SCWD. High, loud, at temperatures dawn to -45*C will contain very litle, if fany, SCWD, and wil be giving rime ice in any case ce teing Ch il cs race ne as Tight Fine Ae Tight eoanine Ns moderate oarvime St Tighumoderate eerie Se moderate ‘esrvime Gu moderatelsevere ear ca. modoratelsevere ‘ear Thunderstone | _moderatelsevore ear Figure 7.88 ‘Remember that as the proportion of clear to rime icing depends fon the temperature in the cloud you can get rime ieng at high altitude in CB. and. thunderstorms. Note, t00, that ‘Thunderstorms and CB always imply moderate to severe icing ‘and turbulence Icing at Fronts Icing in the warm and cold fronts of polar front depressions ‘can be deduced from the cloud structure of the front, and this is covered later, There is, however, one special type af airframe icing that is associated with warm fronts, and this is rain ice. Rain ice is form of very heavy clear icing that js encountered sen the aircraft fs Mying sbove ie O°C level it te wuld ai, but below the frontal surface and below the O°C level of the ‘warm air. Here rain is falling from the stratus cloud above, typically Ns, at the front, Figure 7-8-6 illustrates this. The aireralt is flying in what is called the rain ice triangle ‘Metooroloay TessFigure 78-6 Here heavy rain is falling into an area below O°C that probably clear of cloud and the rain is just supercooled before hitting the aircraft, giving the worst possible clear ice with high rate of accretion. The frontal slope is only 1:150, so the triangle is, in reality, very thin and flat. If, for example, the O°C level were at 3000M, about 0.5nm, then the rain ice triangle ‘would be found from 75nnm ahead of the surface position of the font. If the O°C isotherm in the cold air were at ground level, then the freezing rain would be falling on the ground, on runways, taxiways and parked aircraft, making’ operations extremely hazardous, Icing of this type is also possible where rain falls into a sub- zero layer at the surface underneath a surface inversion. This hhappens in Central Europe when rain follows a long period when the weather is dominated by a cold high-pressure system. ‘Your exit strategy from rain ice isto climb or descend. You will, get a higher clearance rate in the rain above the icing, above the frontal surface in the warm air, so climbing is your frst ‘option, Descent is perfectly acceptable as a second option s0 Tong as you have both air tale and obstacle clearance 0 £0 down. ue Teeu0 5 "MeteorologyHoar Frost Hoar frost is formed when the airframe is very cold, and the aireraft is in warm moist air, The moisture will sublimate directly into ice crystals on the alireraft structure. An alreraft, fying in warm air Soon warms to the ambient temperature, so the effect in flight is transient. Hoar frost is most often seen on the ground after a prolonged flight at high altitude Dllowed by ‘rapid descent. It ¢ usually located over heat sinks lke wing ‘main spars and fall fuel tanks. Hoar frost used not to be thought miich of a risk, for it clears quickly in fight, but recent incidents have shown “hat it ean bbe a serious hazard, In one case an aircraft with twin rear~ ‘mounted engines took off with a layer of hoar frost over the full inboard wing fuel tanks, On rotation the hoar frost came off the wings, went straight back into the engines and caused double flame-out. Hoar frost is now regarded as a serious contaminant and must be removed before fight “anless the Aireraft Operating Manual specifically allows it to remain, Packed Snow Ice crystals at temperatures just below O°C wil melt if compressed, and freeze again when the pressure is released this is the process that allows us to make snowballs. When an aireralt is lying in a snow shower there is a small risk that the Snow will stick to the aircraft on impact. The conditions required for this are very specifie, and the probability of it ccurring is low. teaueS 7Classification of Airframe Icing ‘The ICAO definitions of light, moderate and severe airframe icing are Light Jess than moderato icing. ‘Moderate Conditions in which a change of heading andor aftude may be considrod desirable. Severe CConaltions in which an immediate chango of heading andlor attude is considered essential, Jet Engine Intake Icing ‘Most subsonic jet intakes have some degree of convergence, ‘which produces’ an increase in air velocity and a corresponding, Grop in pressure and temperature. If the temperature drop takes the intake temperature down to the icing range, and the hhumidity is high, there is a risk of ice forming in the intake uct. If your aircraft is subject to this riske the operating, ‘manual will tell you what engine RPM, temperature and hhumidity ranges are critical, and these should be avoided in Slight. Carburettor and Piston Engine Intake Icing Piston engine intake icing is commonly called carburettor icing, but it does affect modern piston engines with fuel injection systems in just the same way as it affects carburettors. Its a particularly insidious hazard, for it is at its most significant in Conditions that appear to be safe, on warm good- weather days. In piston engines, there is usually some form of restricted throat or venturi in the air intake where the air speeds up and the pressure and temperature fall. When at idle, or at descent ower, the throttle is nearly closed, the restriction is severe, and the temperature drop large. ‘In addition to this, fuel evaporating in the intake will take its latent heat of vvaporisation ffom the air, dropping the temperature stil If there is a moderate or high level of humidity, this marked temperature drop will form ice in the intake duct, sharply reducing engine power. Ice may sometimes form around the throttle itself, freezing tin position, Tesue ~ Meteorotogy and evaporation Intake towSummer days in Northwest Eorope Piston Engine tak log Figure 7.08 Forecasting the likelihood of carburettor icing depends on an assessment of the effects of humidity and throttls position. The graph at figure 7-8-9 summarises the effect of these factors Risk of carburettor icing in ar free of ‘cloud fog or precipitation Sammi oo cen HE 605. hoyhoxe Seemtscnt rome HH sss one aw Figure 78-0 Meteorology Tues SS~«R‘The key factor is high humidity, At humidities in excess of 60% RH carburettor icing may be expected in virtually all fight conditions at ordinary ambient temperatures, When you are fying in fog oF cloud you must assume that the RIT ie 100%, ‘and use your intake sir heater accordingly. Mist is assessed as about 95% Ri With the throttle closed, at descent power or when taxiing, serious carburettor icing can oceur in humidities as low as ‘30% RH with the temperature in the 18°C-25°C range and at temperatures as high as 30°C if the RH is over 40% Carburettor icing is not confined to cold conditions. The most dangerous conditions occur with enise of descent power sc, fon relatively warm days with moderate or high humidity, Poor Vi Bither by day or night, visibility is reduced whenever small particles in the atmosphere obstruct, reflect and scatter the light. The particles can be water droplets, ice crystals or solids like dust, sand and smoke. Poor visibility a hagard for landing and talkeof, Apart from. the obvious difficulty of seeing the ground or runway and Approach lights, diffraction through water drops in rain, mist OF fog can give you a false indication of your angle of approach, ‘This makes you think you are closer to touchdown or at & higher approach angle than you really are ‘ea0 ines Sete tetas menacioay)Figure 7.0.14 Flight visibility and aerodrome visibility are often different. A mist layer may be quite shallow and easy to see through from, the air but appear quite dense at ground level Flight Visibility Figure 7.0.42 Acrodrome visibility can be reported elther as “prevailing visibility” or as “Runway Visual Range" Meteoroloay Tees SSC~*~*~«SPrevailing Visibility Prevailing The visibly value that is reached or exceeded Visibility” within at least ha the horizon crt or within atleast haf of the surface of the aerodrome. These areas ‘could comprise contiguous or noncontiguous ‘sectors ‘This means that, over half the horizon circle, the prevailing visibility wil be exceeded and, over the other half, the visibility Till he Jess than the prevailing visibility. The prevailing Visibility roughly representa the average visibiity. There are caveats in place if the visibility in one or more directions is ‘significantly lower than the prevailing visibiity. Where the visibility in any direction is either less than the prevailing visibility and less than1500 metres or less than 50% of the prevailing visibility, the lowest visibility observed will, also be reported. The general direction of the area of lower Visibility will be indicated by reference to one of the eight points of the compass. If the lowest visibility is observed in. more than one direction, then the most operationally Significant direction will be reported, Figure 78:19 ‘When the visibility is Muctuating rapidly and the prevailing, visibility cannot be determined, only the lowest visibility will be reported, with no indication of direction, ‘When a decision to carry out a non-precision or “circle to land” approach is based on prevailing visibility, pilots should bear in ‘mind that the visibility in certain sectors could be up to 50% or "MeteorologyJess than that reported but reassure themselves that it would, ! be reported as a minimum value if t was less than 1800m. Prevailing visibility is reported in metres, METAR EGGD 1250 1800 BOONE... should be read as "Weather at ore two five 2er0, prevailing visibility one thousand eight hundred metres, ; ‘worst visibility Is eight hundred metres to the North East...” Runway Visual Range Runway vinual range (RVR) is more precisely defined as AVR ‘The maximum alstance inthe direction of theo or lanaing at which the runway, or spectied ights winter the land will be cool, and small t medium Cu formed during the day will disperse during the night. In summer, the hhot land surface adds thermal triggering to the orographie triggers, and Cu will build up to large Cu or CB during the day, ‘which ean persist at night. Winter or summer, f the air started very cold or has had a lot of warming from below, or both, it ‘can arrive absolutely unstable, creating large Cu and CB. ity will be good, except in showers, and wirds will be moderate W to NW with gusts near the larger Cu and CB. Icing land turbulence will be moderate to severe in the convective loud. Watch out for radiation fog in winter if dhe skies clear fand the gradient slackens at night in a post-lront temporary old high. Pm air masses bring heavy precipitation to the Scandinavian mountains and to the Alps if it penetrates far enough inland. Pm can enter the Mediterranean, particularly during the winter, and the rain and cool Pm behind a log walling fcclusion from a North Atlantic depression is « cold ait ‘outbreak that can reach a far south as Morocco Arctic Maritime Figure 7.9.12 [Air coming directly from the Arctic ice cap can orcasionally, ‘and usually in winter, reach Northwest Europe as 2 more fextreme version of Pm, itis called direct Polar maritime (dPm) fr Arctic maritime (Am) if it comes from beyond the Arctic font igure 7-9-12) “Meteorology TesueS 943‘The temperature contrast between the very cold air and the relatively warm open sea south of the ice pack makes the very Cold air mase moist and Unstable on arrival. Cur and CB form ‘over the sea, sometimes spreading out as Se, bringing heavy snowfalls to north and east coasts. Because the total water content picked up in the short sea track is low, the snow showers do not penetrate deep over land, Sometimes small polar lows are formed in the northerly airstream that can drop ‘foot or more of snow on an airfield in one pass. Returning polar maritime Returning polar maritime (Pr), also known as warm polar maritime (wPm) has the same source region as Pro. It differs because of its longer sea passage, travelling further South, usually round a large Alantic depression, and then returning te Northwest Europe lates on south-westery winds (gure 9-13). Figure 7.9413 ‘As the air tracks South it warms and picks up moisture in the lower levels and this leads, as in Pm, to a greater ELR and less stability at all levels, However, as it returns North the eflect reverses, and the air in the lower levels cools, becoming more ‘stable while still picking up moisture, while the air in the ‘medium and high levels remains unstable. In effect, sPm shows the characteristics of Pm at medium level ‘and the characteristics of Tm at low level. This means that rPm ‘arriving at Northwest’ Europe will initially give weather ona ‘Meteorologyassociated with moist stable air - low stratus and poor visibility in drizzle on W and SW coasts. There will be a possibility of advection fog ifthe sea or land surfaces are cool enough. In the fir at medium level, there can be convective activity, oRten Ac ccastellanus, ‘The fog and stratus can lift in turbulence overland to Se if the winds are more than about 15kt. However, if there are Sullicently effective triggers to break through the low level Stability the air mass will start convective activity aad the low Stratus will [it and. break to small Cu or Ac, possibly ‘converting to larger Cu, Exactly what happens depends on the balance between the thickness of the stable layer, the degree of instability aloft and the effectiveness of the trigger. Orographic lifting over high ‘ground can break the stability, but it is surface heating over the land that is the main cause of the breakdown of the low level stability, In summer rPm typically gives St and Sc on windward coasts, changing to convective cloud inland, while in winter the stable ‘weather conditions persist over much of Northwest Europe. Polar Continental Polar continental (Pe) air (Sgure 7-9-14) has its source region in the Siberian high, a cold, dry, stable airmass that sits over eastern Europe and the Russian plains jn winter. It tracks 10 Northwest Europe on an easterly wind across Europe, and there is little change to its start characteristics, s9 it brings typical ery, cold, stable airmass conditions to central and northem Europe and southern England. There is a temperature inversion associated ‘with these conditions that trope ‘moisture and industrial contamination in the lower layers, gving poor visibility and the possibility of radiation fox fat night, but there will be little or no cloud, Watch out for windshear and CAT at the level of the inversion. Winds will be light below the inversion, but can be moderate easterlies above. Pe can make Central Europe very cold. If the Pe airmass is, followed by rain there is likely to be freezing rain and ice on the surface Meteorology “issue 5Figure 79-16 Pe alr that transits the open areas of the Baltic and North Sea towards Scotland and northern England will pick up heat and ‘moisture from the sea, even if the sea temperatures are cold by Dathing standards. Warming in the lower layers makes the air ‘unstable and it wil produce sleet or snow showers over the sea land on windward coasts, There is little diurnal change, and the ‘showers, which only have a small total moisture content, die out as they track inland. Polar continental ait is present only {in winter, for in summer the surface temperatures in the ‘source region rise to 20-25°C and it becomes an area of mean low pressure, Tropical Maritime ‘Tropical maritime (Fm) air has its source region in the warm, ‘moist, stable Azores high. In the diagram at igure 7-9-15, it shown arriving at Northwest Europe as the warm sector of a large polar font depression. This is the most usual way thet wwe see Tm in Northwest Europe, and the formation and structure of these depressions is dealt with in the next Chapter Yasue 5 Meteorology the Pe source ragion does not ‘atin summerFigure 7.045, [As the air tracks North East to Northwest Europe the lower levels cool, increasing the relative humidity and making the air ‘mass more stable. This cooling accentuates the inversion at low level. Visibility is moderate to poor because of this. Tm has zno unstable upper layer like rPm, but is stable at alllevels. [As the air reaches the south-west coasts of Northwest Europe It produces dull drizly weather with low stratus and advection fog, There will be hill fog over high ground, and the advection, fog end low stratus can lit in moderate winds to Se in a turbulence cloud layer, In winter these conditions ef low St or Se with poor visibikty and drizzle can persist right across Northwest Europe, with breaks on the lee sides of high ground, Dut in summer there may be enough daytime heating to disperse the fog and cloud, replacing it first with clear skies, ‘then with small cumulus and broken stratocurmulus in the stil relatively stable air. Winds will be light to moderate SW. There will be no turbulence in stratus, but there can be turbulence in the Se, fand you would expect windshear and turbulence, perhaps CAT, ‘near any temperature inversion, at the top of the Turbulence cloud. cing wil be light in the stratus cloud, but ccan be moderate to severe in the Se in winter. The probability of carburettor icing will be high in the warm moist ait. Meteorotoay Teen a7‘Tropical Continent ‘Tropical continental air (Te) (figure 7-9-16) comes from the ‘Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean in summer where itis stable and hot, but not particulary dry. Figure 7.046 ‘As the airmass moves North it cools, increasing the stability of the lower levels, but by the time it reaches the S coast of England the air is stil relatively warm and stable, but fairly humid. There is no cloud and the already poor visibility associated with the subsidence and a temperature inversion ‘ean be further reduced by the presence of fine dust particles from the desert source region. This brings clear skies and hot weather to north-west Europe, and if a lot of moisture is Trapped tinder the inversion it can be very humid. Eventually daytime heating over the land will bring convective Cu, CB and ‘thunderstorms, especially if there is a very slack gradient and light winds. If the Tropical continental air takes the route along the North ‘Sea to the coast of Scotland and northern England i will pile up moisture in the lower layers which will be trapped underneath the inversion, and the cooling over the sea will produce a thin layer of advection fog which blows on to the shore. This resulting sea fog is known as Haar in Scotland and Sea Fret in Lincolnshire ‘Te air is rare over Northwest Burope (present for only 5% of the ‘year) because the source high pressure region ie transient and one eS ~S~S*~*~*~*Ct roy armas, but ‘oxtonds Into theto reach Northwest Europe it has to take a very precise track, ‘avoiding the Central European mountains, Te ait is never present in winter, for the source region cools off. It does, Rowever, sometimes occur in late summer or early autumn, Cold Air Outbreaks and Cold Pools Cold air outbreaks are intrusions of cold air either at the Surface of, more commonly at height, into warmer temperate regions. A cold air outbreak at height is unstable ~ warm below ‘and enld aloft equals a high lapse rate. A cold air eutbreale in the lower layers is stable, but can be destabilized by surface hheating. A cold poo! is a cold air outbreak that has been cut off from the source by warm air. SERRA ‘mu ( MC}, LmL=1000. 12 UTE 24 NOY BIO C+ 0031) Figure 79-17 shows @ thickness chart that shows the thickness of the air mass between the 1000mb level (near the Suriace) and the S00mb level (around 18,0008). The large area Of blue shows where the coluran of ar is not so high indicating f2 cold air outbreale with both low temperatures and. lew pressures, Tesuo 5 syIntentionally Blank Teeue 5 MeteorologyChapter 10 - Polar Front Depressions his Chapter is an analysis of the weather associated ‘with the series of low pressure aystems that move along, the polar fronts, the “travelling lows", starting with a lookeat their formation and life history Global circulation We have looked already at the fundamental global circulation that defines the weather, and we will be looking at it yet again fn later chapters. This is, however, so important a facior in climatology that we make ho apology for revising it once more, ‘The air near the equator is strongly heated by the sun and rises, up to the tropopause, where it stops rising and diverges outwards ‘The air flowing outwards st height is cooled aloft and sinks ‘back down again at about 30° Latitude, where it splits, with some air turning back toward the Equator at low level, and some travelling poleward. ‘The air flowing out toward the poles will meet surface air flowing out of the polar region at about 50” Latitude, Here the convergence will cause a ling of the air back up ta high level fand secondary high level circulation out to the poles and back to 30” Latitude, ‘The pattern is shown in figure 7-10-1. The tropical circulation cell 8 called a Hadley cel, after Dr Hadley, who first suggested ‘these in 1735. “Meteorology Teeue 5 A098relia This circulation in the troposphere, produces defined high and low pressure areas atthe surface. We also see that the atmosphere has been divided into three major blocks, hot tropical air, warm sub-tropical air and cold polar air. The polar air is separated from the sub-tropical air by a thin, sharp boundary called the polar front, while the boundary between the sub-tropical and tropical air is more difuse, and is called a ‘non-frontal division of the air masses We must now complicate the pattern and consider the rotating earth in the Northern hemisphere, remembering as we go that While the Coriolis effect is opposite in the Southern hemisphere a similar pattern will emerge. On the surface, winds will respond to the surface pressure gradient and turn according to the Coriolis effect. Thus in the Northern Hemisphere the winds converging on the equator will be from the NE, the winds flowing poleward out of the sub-tropical highs will turn and become south-westerlies at about 40° Latitude, Winds flowing out of the polar high will turn and become north-easteies at bout 60° Latitude It is the area of low pressure at Latitude 40° to 60° that ‘concerns us now, an area of disturbed flow, with low pressure ‘reas constantly forming, moving East and filing, and with the ppolar front constantly changing its position. Northwest Europe lies in this zone, and anyone familiar with the weather there will recognise why itis called the disturbed temperate zone, or the area of travelling lows. Figure 7-10-2 gives an idea of this low level circulation pattern 402 a MeteorolFigure 7402 The North Atlantic Polar front ‘The polar front which influences most of the weather over Northwest Europe, the North Atlantic polar front, lies in winter flong a mean line from Florida to Brittany and in summer from Nova, Scotia to the Scottish Islands, At the polar front the circulation of air leaving the polar high and turning right, and leaving the sub-tropical high and also turning right sets up pattern of air runbing in opposite directions at the frontal boundary. (figure 710-3), In eross section, the frent surface wll be found to slope so that che less dense warm sub-tropical fir overlies the cold polar air. Meteorology ues SSCS*~*~*~S~«SThis is an unstable situation, At regular Intervals the front wobbles and forme a wave, If the length of these waves Is between bout S00km and 1600km along the front, they will continue to” deepen, and a depression will form. “Tt will bea depression because the intruding warm air Subtropiala sector in the wave / replaces cold dense air J with les dense warm : alr aloft, reducing the Figure 74103 surface pressure. Convergence toward the low will be deflected by the Coriolis effect, circulation will begin at low level, and the characteristic ‘ober pattern of a frontal depression will appear. The epression now becomes self sustaining, as the energy fom the warm air, carried aloft as heat or latent energy of condensation changes to. kinetie energy and increases the circulating wind speed, which lowers the pressure at the centre land increases the convergence. This process continues until the energy supply runs out, and the depression slows down land fills, The stages inthe development of a polar front depression are given in the figures 7-10-4, 7-10-5 and 7-10-6, 10.4 eS‘The wave and the depression as it forms will move along the front line at about the speed of the 10,000f wind. Because the sub-tropical overlies the polar air the wind at 10,000R over the Surface position of the depression is the sub-tropical south- Westerly wind, so the depression moves north east along the font line ‘Sub-tropical air ‘While this is going on, the circulation is pulling cold air down to the warm side, forming a cold front, and pushing warm air lip over the cold air, forming a warm front. The cold front ‘moves faster than the warm front, which is held back more by surface friction, $0 the cold front will gradually catch up with ‘the warm front, and then overtake it, forming an occlusion, or “Meteorology Tssu0 5 0‘occluded front. This process squeezes out the warm air sector, feuts off the warm air feed, and is the beginning of the end of the depression, It will help you to visualise this three-dimensional process if you study Sgure 7-108, In this illustration, the movement of the troposphere air is shown, and the top of the air masses is, the tropopause. You can see how the warm air slides up the front, to be replaced by cold air burrowing in at low level. Note hhow when the occlusion forms the warm air supply is cut off, leaving only a pateh of warm air at tropopause level, which will ‘dni out to subside at the polar high. While all this is going on ‘8 new wave and a new depression is forming back along the front, near the coast of North America, ready to run north east and take over. 4 2 Inia Stage Huatre Stage — Gectuded Sane Dying stage Figure 7-108 Occasionally new depressions form near the main depression ‘on the fronts or on the occlusion and these will move around. the main depression in the medium level airflow. Theee are called secondary depressions, and often grow to be deeper and more violent than the main depression, 06 Tesue 5 ~~ MeteorotoayDepression and Frontal Movement ‘The frontal depression as a whole moves as driven by the ‘medivim level wind, the south-westerly warm sector wind - at approximation [cast in its early life, “Movement of depressions is @ complex ako the fut subject, In an open sector depression we have a remnant of the ‘geestrophic value SW wind shown as the warm sector isobars. If the depression. is occhided this indicator is lost |An open warm sector depression system as a whole moves in the direction of the nearest isobars to the centre in the warm sector. The speed is abcut 80% of the full geostrophie value measured across the nearest pair ofisobare to the centre that you ean fing. [As the depression occludes it slows and a fully fccluded depression is probably slow moving or Stationary. If there are no fronts left on the depression, find where the isobars are closest. The depression is probably moving in the direction of the winds at that point Hf the isobars around the low are completely symmetrical the low is probably slow moving or stationary Secondary lows in the cold Pm air or on the cold front move round the low following the circulating flow. Secondary lows on the warm front move mare or less radially out away from the centre of the low Fronts move independently of the depression centre. Again, the Full valve for cold true picture is complex, but use the following practical rules: ‘warm fronts are 5 ‘the accepted [approximations [Each section of the front moves at right angles to the frontal surface. This means that on curved fronts dlflerent bits are moving off in different directions. The ‘speed of any section of the front can be measured by ‘comparing the gap between the isobars along the front to the geostrophie wind scale. Cold fronts and cold ‘occlusions move st roughly the speed taken directly from the scale but warm front and wares occlusions fare slower and they move at two thirds of the ‘measured geostrophie component. Meteorology Tesue 5 _ 707‘Measuring The Speed of a front Figure 7-10-8 illustrates the use of the geostrophie seale when ‘measuring front speeds Figure 7-108 The Structure of a Warm Sector ina Polar Front Depression Cloud and Precipitation At the leading edge of the warm sector the warm ait is sliding. ‘over the cold to produce a warm front. The fonts are shown on the surface chart as the surface positions of the fronts, At the ‘railing edge of the system cold air is forcing itself under warmer air to form a cold front. In cross section the slope of the fronta differs, the warm front being abvut 1-150 aunt Use cold front being 1:50. cc MeteorologyCross section of warm and cold fronts Figure 710.9 [An observer on the ground watching the approach aad passing of a warm sector wil start off in polar air, usually Pm, whose characteristic weather we now know to be Cu or CB with good ‘sibility outside the showers {As the warm front approaches the overlying warm air makes a temperature inversion at height, which stabilises the Pm, and the convective activity begins to die out. At the same time the ‘observer will see the first signs of the approaching front, the Ihigh cloud. Tim is very stable all the way up to the topopause, and the warm air that has slid up the front is cooling and Creating stratiform cloud, Ns, As, Cs and Ci, as the whole mass ‘of air up to the tropopause is raised. As the front approaches, the cloud comes lower and lower. Ci and Cs give way to As and finally Ne, which produce precipitation, stating as drizale and ‘changing to continuous moderate rain. Inthe continuous rain, broken stratus may form at low level ‘As the warm front passes the airmass is now warm and moist, ‘usually Tr, so the weather expected is low cloud, stratus and, favecton fog in winter, with a possibilty of a clearance in summer, at was discussed earlier tle warning of the approach of the cold front. Now surface is displaced relatively sharply upwards and ‘8 the cold front passes the displacement continues This gives first Ne and then embedded CB, perhaps mixed with As and Cs spreading from the CB, Rain falls from the Ns and heavy showers from the CB. ‘Moteorotoay “issue 5 709‘The rising air at the front and the divergence at height that follows often leads to subsidence just behind the front and a brier post-frontal clearance. The weather then takes on the pattern of the airmass, usually Pm with developing Cu and CB. Pressure, Temperature and Low Level Winds Ifyou imagine the depression passing to the North of you, and tracking parallel to the isobars in the warm sector, you get the Feoating es ee a (, | ‘The pressure patterns usually result in the windspeed in the warm sector being rather less than in the cold air. Remember that in the Southern Hemisphere the warm sector will be om the North side of the depression, the wind circulation will be in the opposite sense, and the surface wind will back as the fronts pass. Note that a font is an area of relatively low F010 Teeue 5 ~ Meteorologypressure, the isobars always bed toward the low pressure end, of the front, Thus, if you cross a front, or a front passes over ‘you, moving at right angles to the front line there will be a ‘small drop in pressure followed by a small rise. This does not conflict with the analysis above, where we have assumed that ‘your relative track is along the warm sector isobars. High Level Winds ‘The cloud and upper wind structure of a typical warm sector depression is shown at figure 7-10-11 Figure 7-40-14 ‘The front markings have been omitted for clarity. The cold front is on the left of the warm sector and the warm front on the right. The jetstream position and direction reflects the rules, 4we met earlier. It is the vector sum of the thermal component, that runs parallel to the frontlines, and the low leve: wind, and fs in the warm alr aloft but appears on this surface chart to be in the cold sector. ‘Meteorolony “issues toaHazards at Fronts Icing Icing will be nil in the high Ci of the approaching warm front, increasing to trace and light rime icing in the As. Moderate ‘mixed rime and clear icing is possible in the Ns, but the worst ‘hazard by far at the warm front is rain ice. The best way 10 leave the rain ice triangle is to climb out into the warm air ‘above. If this Is not possible, then descent is the next best ‘option - so long ss you have both Air Traffic and obstacle clearance. Level turns, of, worst of all, fying parallel to the front, are poor options. Carburetor icing may be a hazard in the warm ‘sector and in the CB at the cold front you must always assume there is a risk of severe icing. Turbulence ‘There willbe little turbulence in the warm frant zone, possibly some in the windshear at the front surface. At the cold front the CB will give moderate to severe turbulence, CAT will be ound around the jetstreams. Windshear and turbulence at low level will be found near the cold front surface position, and near the bases of the CB. Occluded Fronts [As the cold front overtakes the warm front and occludes the characteristic weather of the ‘wo fronts will combine. The warm air sector will be pushed aloft, and the two cold air ‘masses will meet at the surface. The two cold air mastes began with the same characteristics, but by now their diferent tracks have changed these, and one cold air mass will be colder than the other will the air behind the occlusion is colder, it is a cold occlusion; if the air behind is warmer, it will be a warm occlusion, The two Pm air masses wil have similar temperatures, 80. the temperature change across the occlusion will be small, and surface temperatures, afected by station “height” and ‘ype ‘Warm occlusions will have the shape at the surface of a warm front. The uplift will be moderate, and although the weather will be a mix of warm front and cold front weather, t will be ‘more like a warm front. Cold occlusions have the shape of & ‘cold front, and their weather tends more towards the weather ‘at a cold front, This is shown in figures 7-10-12 and 7-10-13, yo2 Tesue 5 ~ Meteoraioay