Air Masses
Air masses are large bodies of air that acquire specific temperature and humidity characteristics from the regions over which they form. These regions, known as source regions, include warm tropical oceans, subtropical deserts, cold oceans, high-latitude snow-covered continents, and permanently ice-covered areas. The types of air masses derived from these regions include:
- Maritime Tropical (mT): Warm and humid, typically originating over tropical oceans.
- Continental Tropical (cT): Warm and dry, formed over land in lower latitudes.
- Maritime Polar (mP): Cool and humid, derived from cold oceans.
- Continental Polar (cP): Cold and dry, originating from high-latitude land areas.
- Continental Arctic (cA): Very cold and dry, found over ice-covered land in polar regions.
When different air masses meet, the boundary is called a front, and the process of their interaction can lead to significant weather changes. Four primary types of fronts exist: cold fronts, warm fronts, stationary fronts, and occluded fronts. These interactions often cause abrupt weather changes, especially in middle latitudes, where terms like extratropical cyclones come into play. This segment emphasizes the significance of understanding air masses and fronts in relation to weather forecasting and atmospheric science.