An air mass is a large volume of air in the atmosphere that is mostly uniform in temperature and moisture . Air masses can extend thousands of kilometers in any direction, and can reach from ground level to the stratosphere—16 kilometers (10 miles) into the atmosphere.
What is an air mass quizlet?
An air mass is a huge body of air in the lower atmosphere that has similar temperature,humidity, and air pressure at given height . Tropical Air Mass. Tropical or warm air masses form in the tropic and have low air pressure. You just studied 9 terms!
What characteristics describe air mass?
Air masses have fairly uniform temperature and moisture content in horizontal direction (but not uniform in vertical). Air masses are characterized by their temperature and humidity properties. The properties of air masses are determined by the the underlying surface properties where they originate.
What is an air mass * Your answer?
Answer: Air mass is a body of air with horizontal uniform levels of temperature, humidity and pressure . They are classified according to the temperature and moisture characteristics of their source regions. Based on temperature: tropical (warm), polar(cold), artic (extremely cold).
What’s the definition for air mass?
: a body of air extending hundreds or thousands of miles horizontally and sometimes as high as the stratosphere and maintaining as it travels nearly uniform conditions of temperature and humidity at any given level.
What is the best source region for an air mass?
The best source regions for air masses are large flat areas where air can be stagnant long enough to take on the characteristics of the surface below .
How do we name air masses quizlet?
Air masses are NAMED by their temperature and humidity characteristics . Continental Polar air masses (cP) are air masses that are cold and dry due to their continental source region.
What are the 4 characteristics of air masses?
There are four categories for air masses: arctic, tropical, polar and equatorial . Arctic air masses form in the Arctic region and are very cold. Tropical air masses form in low-latitude areas and are moderately warm. Polar air masses take shape in high-latitude regions and are cold.
What are three characteristics of air masses?
Continental air masses are characterized by dry air near the surface while maritime air masses are moist . Polar air masses are characterized by cold air near the surface while tropical air masses are warm or hot. Arctic air masses are extremely cold.
What are the 5 types of air masses?
Five air masses affect the United States during the course of a typical year: continental polar, continental arctic, continental tropical, maritime polar, and maritime tropical .
When two air masses meet what happens?
When two different air masses come into contact, they don’t mix . They push against each other along a line called a front. When a warm air mass meets a cold air mass, the warm air rises since it is lighter. At high altitude it cools, and the water vapor it contains condenses.
What are different types of air?
Generally, there are four types of air masses that can be further categorized with specifics of where they occur and over water or land. The 4 types of air masses are polar, tropical, continental and maritime.
What is air and its types?
Standard Dry Air is made up of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, krypton, hydrogen, and xenon . It does not include water vapor because the amount of vapor changes based on humidity and temperature.
What are examples of air mass?
The air masses in and around North America include the continental arctic (cA), maritime polar (mP), maritime tropical (mT), continental tropical (cT), and continental polar (cP) air masses . Air is not the same everywhere.
How air masses are formed?
An air mass forms whenever the atmosphere remains in contact with a large, relatively uniform land or sea surface for a time sufficiently long to acquire the temperature and moisture properties of that surface . ... The Earth’s major air masses originate in polar or subtropical latitudes.
How does air mass move?
Winds and air currents cause air masses to move. Moving air masses cause changes in the weather. A front forms at the boundary between two air masses. Types of fronts include cold, warm, occluded, and stationary fronts.
