WIND:

SMALL
SCALE
AND
LOCAL
SYSTEMS
REPORTED BY:
VILLAHERMOSA,KL
BALIWAN,CJ
ESPULGAR,MJ
SMALL-SCALE WINDS INTERACTING
WITH THE ENVIRONMENT

 Scales of motion
 Micro, meso, synoptic
 Friction and Turbulence in Boundary Layer
 Laminar flow
 Irregular turbulent motion
 Planetary boundary layer (PBL)
 Depth of PBL
Scales of atmospheric motion.
SMALL-SCALE WINDS INTERACTING
WITH THE ENVIRONMENT

 Observations: Eddies & Air Pockets

 Eddies on leeward side of solid object
 Roll eddies, mountain wave eddy (clear air turbulence)
 Increase wind speed/shear deforms layer into wave and
air pocket.
 Force of the Wind
 Bridges and hills or rises can modify wind, increasing the
force at specific locations.
SMALL-SCALE WINDS INTERACTING
WITH THE ENVIRONMENT

 Microscale winds blowing over the Earth’s

surface
 Wind erosion, desert pavements, sand ripples
 Snow ripples, snow dunes, snow rollers, snow
fences
 Windbreak, shelter belt
DETERMINING WIND SPEED AND
DIRECTION

 Wind characterized by direction, speed, and gustiness

 Wind direction describes the direction from which it is
blowing
DETERMINING WIND SPEED AND
DIRECTION

 Wind Measurements
 Wind vane
 Pressure plate anemometer
 Cup anemometer
 Aerovane
 Rawinsonde
 Wind soundings
DETERMINING WIND SPEED AND
DIRECTION

 Influence of Prevailing Winds

 Prevailing most frequently observed direction during a given
time period
 Impact human and natural landscape
 Wind rose
 Topic: Wind Power
 Turbines need moderate, steady winds
 Only a few percent of nation’s total energy needs generated
by wind power in the first half of the century
LOCAL WINDS

 Thermal circulation
 Heating and cooling of the atmosphere above
the ground create cold, core high and warm,
core low pressure cells.
 Wind travels from high to low and rises until it cools
and begins to sink.
LOCAL WINDS

 Sea and Land Breeze

 Uneven heating of land and
water
 Day: land hot, water cold = sea
breeze
 Night: water hot, land cold =
land breeze
 Sea breeze front, sea breeze
convergence
LOCAL WINDS

 Local Winds and Water

 Local winds will change
speed and direction as
they cross a large body of
water due to less friction,
greater speed and
greater Coriolis effect
 Stepped Art
Fig. 9-25, p. 241
The convergence of two lake breezes and their influence on the
maximum temperature during July in upper Michigan.
Sinking air develops where surface winds move offshore, speed
up, and diverge. Rising air develops as surface winds move
onshore, slow down, and converge.
LOCAL WINDS

 Seasonally Changing Winds: The Monsoon

 Arabic for seasonal
 Winds change direction seasonably causing
extreme dry and wet season
 Eastern and southern Asia, North America
LOCAL WINDS

 Mountain and Valley Breeze

 On mountain slopes, warm air rises during the day
creating a valley breeze; during night nocturnal
drainage of cool air creating a mountain breeze
 Associated with cumulus clouds in the afternoon
 Katabatic winds
 Cold wind rushes down elevated slopes, usually 10
kts or less but can reach hurricane strength
LOCAL WINDS

 Chinook/Foehn Winds
 Dry warm descending on the leeward side of a
orographic barrier
 Eastern slope of Rockies (chinook), Europe (foehn),
Argentina (zonda)
 Focus: Snow Eaters
 Thirsty wind on east side of Rockies that eat or melt
snow due to rapid change in temperature
LOCAL WINDS

 Santa Anna Winds

 Warm dry that blows from east or northeast down
canyons into S. California
 Very fast, desiccates vegetation, providing fuel for
fires
 Desert winds
 Dust storms, sand storms, dust devil, haboob
 A

B
ASSESSMENT

Modified True or False Instruction: Write TRUE if the statement is valid and
FALSE if otherwise. If the statement is FALSE, underline the word(s) that
make it wrong and change it to make it correct. Put your answer in the
blank provided.

__________ 1. Wind direction can be expressed in degrees about a circle

or as compass points.
__________ 2. Wind travels from low to high and rises until it cools and
begins to sink.
__________ 3. An onshore wind blows from land to water.
__________ 4. An offshore wind blows from water to land.
__________ 5. Small-scale winds interacting with the environment.
__________ 6. Wind characterized by velocity , speed, and
gustiness.
__________ 7. Local winds will change speed and direction as they
cross a large body of water due to less friction, greater speed and
greater Coriolis effect.
__________ 8. In stable air, light winds produce small eddies and
little vertical mixing.
__________ 9. Cup thermometer are used to measure wind speed
and direction.
__________ 10. Greater winds in unstable air create deep, vertically
mixing eddies that produce strong, gusty surface winds.
ASSIGNMENT

Does the wind required eddies

to move? Why?
Illustrate
the seasonal
changing winds and identify
wet and dry season.