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Climatology: Lecture 11 Notes

Air Moisture
Introduction
• Water is one of the most important elements on earth. All plants and animals need water for survival.
• Apart from drinking, water is required for domestic, agriculture, industrial purposes etc.
• Water is very essential for carrying out almost all economic activities. So, water is an indispensible element
without which life form on the earth is not possible.
Water on the Earth

• About 71% of the earth’s surface is

covered by water. The quantity of water
present on the earth is about 326 million
cubic miles. It is hard to visualise this
massive quantity of water.
• Most of the water on the earth is saline and
is found in seas and oceans.
• The salt water constitutes about 97.2%
and the fresh water is only about 2.8%.
Out of this 2.8%, about 2.2% is
available as surface water and the
remaining 0.6% as groundwater. From
this 2.2% of surface water, 2.15% is
available in the form of glaciers and icecaps, 0.01% in lakes and streams and the remaining 0.04% is in
other forms.
• Only about 0.25% of the total ground water of 0.6% can be economically extracted with the present
drilling technology.
• Water resources are useful or potentially useful to humans. Water in India is available in three sources. They
are precipitation, surface water and groundwater.
ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE
• Water vapour in air varies from zero to four per cent by volume of the atmosphere (averaging around 2% in the
atmosphere). Amount of water vapour (Humidity) is measured by, an instrument called Hygrometer.

Significance of Atmospheric Moisture

• Water vapour absorbs radiation—both incoming and terrestrial. It thus plays a crucial role in the earth’s heat
budget.
• The amount of water vapour present decides the quantity of latent energy stored up in the atmosphere for
development of storms and cyclones.
• The atmospheric moisture affects the human body’s rate of cooling by influencing the sensible temperature.

HUMIDITY
Water vapour present in the air is measured in terms of Humidity.
Absolute Humidity
• The actual amount of the water vapour present in the atmosphere is known as the absolute humidity.
• It is the weight of water vapour per unit volume of air and is expressed in terms of grams per cubic meter.
 • The absolute humidity differs from place to place on the surface of the earth.
• The ability of the air to hold water vapour depends entirely on its temperature. Warm air can hold more moisture
than cold air.
Specific Humidity
• It is expressed as the weight of water vapour per unit weight of air.
• Since it is measured in units of weight (usually grams per kilogram), the specific humidity is not affected by
changes in pressure or temperature.
Relative Humidity
• The percentage of moisture present in the atmosphere as compared to its full capacity at a given temperature is
known as the relative humidity.
• It is greater over the oceans and least over the continents.
• With the change of air temperature, the capacity to retain moisture increases or decreases and the relative
humidity is also affected.
Relative humidity can be changed in either of the two ways—
❖ By adding moisture through evaporation: if
moisture is added by evaporation, the relative
humidity will increase and vice versa.
❖ By changing temperature of air: a decrease in
temperature (hence, decrease in moisture-
holding capacity) will cause increase in relative
humidity and vice versa.
Relative humidity determines the amount and rate of
evaporation and hence it is an important climatic factor.

Process of Condensation
• Condensation is the change of the physical state of water vapour (gas state) into water (liquid state).
• The following process explains mechanism of condensation in the atmosphere.
• If an air reaches 100% relative humidity, it means that the air is completely filled with moisture content.
• It indicates that both the absolute humidity and the humidity capacity of the air are in same level.
• This condition is called ‘saturation of air’ which can be attained by reducing the temperature of the air or
increasing the moisture content.
• The temperature at which the air gets saturated is called as ‘dew point’.
• The RH crosses the 100% when the temperature of the air drops below its dew point.
• This condition is called as ‘super saturation’ of the air.
• In this condition the air releases the excess moisture out of it in the form of tiny water droplets which floats and
form clouds in the atmosphere.
• If the same process occurs on the surface of the earth, it is called as ‘fog’ or cloud on the ground.
Clouds and its Types
• Clouds are tiny water droplets suspended in the air formed due to the condensation.

Types of Clouds
Isonephs
• The imaginary line connecting the places having equal amount of cloudiness.

The clouds can be classified based on their form, height and appearance as follows:
a. High clouds:
• Mainly cirrus (Ci) which are feathery form at 6 km above the ground.
 • Cirrus (Ci)-This looks fibrous and appears as wisps cotton in the blue sky. It indicates fair weather and gives
brilliant sun set.
• Cirro Cumulus (Cc) – This appears as white globular masses, forming a mackerel sky.
• Cirro Stratus (Cs) – This resembles a thin white sheet. The sky looks milky and the sun and moon shines
through this clouds and form a ‘halo’.
b. Middle Clouds:
• Mainly Alto (Alt) clouds at 2 km to 6 km above the ground.
• Altocumulus (Alt-Cu): These are woolly, bumpy clouds arranged in layers appearing like waves in the blue
sky. They indicate fine weather.
• Altostratus (Alt-St): These are denser and have watery look.
c. Low Clouds:
• Mainly Stratus or sheet clouds below 2 km height.
• Stratocumulus (St-Cu): This is rough and bumpy clouds with wavy structure.
• Stratus (St): This is very low cloud, uniformly grey and thick, appears like highland fog. It brings dull weather
and light drizzle. It reduces the visibility and is a hindrance to air transportation.
• Nimbostratus (Ni-St): This is dark dull cloud, clearly layered, as it brings rain, snow and sleet and it is called
as rainy cloud.
d. Clouds with vertical extent:
These are mainly cumulus clouds whose heights extend from 2 km to 10 km approximately.
• Cumulus (Cu): This is vertical cloud with rounded top and horizontal base, associated with convectional
process in the tropical region. It also called as ‘fair weather cloud’.
• Cumulonimbus (Cu-Ni): This is over grown cumulus cloud with great vertical extent, with black and white
globular mass.
• The cauliflower top spreads like an anvil. This is formed due to heavy convection in the tropical regions. It is
accompanied by lightning, thunder and heavy rainfall.

Warm and Cold cloud

Fog, Mist and Smog
• ‘Fog’ is defined as almost microscopic droplets of water condensed from super saturated air and suspended over
or near the surface of the earth.
• Fogs reduce the visibility to less than 1 km.
• Fog occurs during calm or light wind conditions.
• It is more common in the areas near to the ocean due to the supply of more moisture by sea breeze.
• In the interior of the continents fog is formed due to reduction of temperature to extreme low during the winter
nights.

ADIABATIC PROCESS
• adiabatic process refer to a heating
or cooling process that occurs
solely as a result of pressure
change, with no heat flowing into
or away from a volume of air.
• How does the adiabatic principle
relate to the uplift of air and to
precipitation?
• Atmospheric pressure decreases as
altitude increases. As a parcel of air
is uplifted, atmospheric pressure
on the parcel becomes lower, and
the air expands and cools.
• As a parcel of air descends,
atmospheric pressure becomes
higher, and the air is compressed and warmed.
Lapse Rate
• Lapse rate is rate of change in temperature observed while moving upward through the Earth’s atmosphere
(troposphere to be specific).
• The lapse rate is considered positive when the temperature decreases with elevation, zero when the temperature
is constant with elevation, and negative when the temperature increases with elevation (temperature inversion).
• The lapse rate of non-rising air – commonly referred to as the normal, or Environmental Lapse Rate (ELR) – is
highly variable, being affected by radiation, convection, and condensation; it averages about 6.5 °C per
kilometer in the lower atmosphere (troposphere).

DRY ADIABATIC PROCESS

• The Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate (DALR) is the rate of fall in temperature with altitude for a parcel of dry or
unsaturated air rising under adiabatic conditions.
• Unsaturated air has less than 100% relative humidity.
• When a rising air parcel has little moisture, condensation during upliftment is low, the latent heat of
condensation released is low [Less additional heat from inside]. As a result, usually the rate of fall in temperature
with height is greater compared to wet adiabatic Lapse Rate
• The dry adiabatic lapse rate for the Earth’s atmosphere equals 9.8° C per kilometer.

WET ADIABATIC PROCESS

• When an air parcel that is saturated with water vapour rises, some of the vapour will condense and release latent
heat [Additional Heat from inside].
• The moist adiabatic lapse rate varies considerably because the amount of water vapour in the air is highly
variable. The greater the amount of vapour, the smaller the adiabatic lapse rate [because the condensation
process keeps on adding more latent heat of condensation]. On an average it is taken as 4° to 5° C per kilometre.
• As an air parcel rises and cools, it may eventually lose its moisture through condensation; its lapse rate then
increases and approaches the dry adiabatic value.

STABLE AND UNSTABLE AIR

• Stable air if the environmental lapse rate is less than both the dry and moist adiabatic lapse rates, the environment
is stable. As an air parcel moves up through this atmosphere, it rapidly becomes colder and denser.
• Unstable air If the environmental lapse rate is greater than both the dry and moist adiabatic lapse rates, the
environment is unstable. As an air parcel moves up through the atmosphere, it is always warmer and less dense
than the surrounding air, causing it to continue to rise.
 • Conditionally stable air If the environmental lapse rate is less than the dry adiabatic lapse rate but greater than the
moist adiabatic lapse rate, the environment is conditionally stable. An unsaturated air parcel moving up in this
environment becomes colder than the surrounding air and sinks back down.

PRECIPITATION
• The process of continuous condensation in free air helps the condensed particles to grow. When the resistance
of the air fails to hold them against the force of gravity, they fall on to the earth’s surface. So, after the
condensation of water vapour, the release of moisture is known as precipitation.
• Rainfall: drop size more than 0.5 mm
• Virage: raindrops evaporate before reaching the lower surface of earth
• Drizzle: light rainfall; drop size less than 0.5 mm
• Mist: evaporation occurs before reaching the ground leading to foggy weather
• Snowfall: fine flakes of snow fall when the temperature is less than 0°C
• Sleet: frozen raindrops and refrozen melted snow; mixture of snow and rain or merely partially melted snow
• Hail: precipitation in the form of hard rounded pellets is known as hail; 5 mm and 50 mm.
Types of Precipitation (Rainfall):
Precipitation can be classified based on the causes for the rising up
of air,
1. Convectional rainfall
2. Orographic or Relief rainfall
3. Cyclonic or Frontal rainfall

Convectional Rainfall:
• As a result of heating of the surface air, the warm moist
air expands and is forced to rise to a great height.
• As the air rises, it cools, reaches dew point and condenses
to form clouds.
• This process influences the upper tropospheric
circulation.
• By further cooling, precipitation takes place as rainfall.
• This rainfall occurs throughout the year near the equator in the afternoon.
• It is called as 4 ‘O’ clock rainfall region.
• In middle latitudes, convectional rainfall occurs in early summer in the continental interiors.

Cloud Seeding or Artificial Rainfall

• People have always wanted to create rain, so that they would not suffer from drought.\
• Modern science has been successful in causing rain in a limited way through cloud
• seeding.
• This method is based on the knowledge of growing ice crystals in clouds.
• One method to cause rainfall from clouds is to introduce particles of dry ice (solid
CO2) into the cloud from an air plane.
• The dry ice causes ice crystals to form in the cloud.
• These ice crystals coalesce, grow, melt and fall as rain.
• Cloud seeding will not be successful unless the cloud is already saturated with watervapour.

Orographic or Relief Rainfall

• It occurs when large mass of air is forced to rise across land barriers, such as high mountain ranges, plateaus,
escarpments, or over high hills.
• On the windward side of the region the warm moist air raises, temperature of the air falls below its dew point,
forming clouds which give subsequent rainfall.
• As the wind moves to the leeward side it has emptied itself of moisture and thus descends the slope as warm
dry winds.
• The leeward side of the mountain therefore is called as the rain shadow region.
Cyclonic or Frontal Rainfall
• This type of precipitation is associated with a cyclonic activity (Tropical and Temperate) and also occurs along
the frontal zone.
• Cyclonic rainfall is associated with Cumulo Nimbus (CuNi) clouds.
• The rainfall is very heavy and accompanied with lightning and thunder and high speed winds which has the
potential to cause damage.
• ‘Frontal rainfall’ is associated with fronts which form due to collision of different air masses.
• Warm front is formed due to advent of warm air masses which leads to moderate rainfall.
• In the same way cold front is formed due to advent of cold air mass which leads to heavy rainfall with lightning
and thunder.