Air Mass Classification

The primary air mass classifications are given below:

mT= Maritime Tropical

Maritime Tropical

The maritime tropical air mass is most often felt in the Southeast US. In the winter this air mass is
shoved toward the equator but in summer it can cover much of the US east of the Rockies. This air
mass results from the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and Gulf Stream. The warm waters in
this region evaporate an enormous volume of water. Cold water currents tend to stabilize the
atmosphere and produce little evaporation while warm waters destabilize the atmosphere and add
moisture. The warm waters warm the low levels of the atmosphere. Temperatures in this air mass
warm to highs in the 80's and 90's in the summer and the 70's and 80's in winter. High dewpoints
characterize mT air. At all times of the year dewpoints are greater than 50 ° F. The majority of US
thunderstorm activity develops within the mT airmass, most being by way of scattered
thermodynamic thunderstorms and thunderstorms out ahead of fronts.

As the maritime tropical airmass moves over land it begins to "pick up" characteristics of a
continental climate. This is particularly true when the mT airmass moves toward the North. The
mT airmass modifies due to lower sun angles, drier land below, and cooler land below.

Maritime Polar

The source region for mP air is over cold ocean currents or high latitude ocean waters. This air
does not have the moisture content as mT air. Since mP air is always near saturation, orographic
lifting of the air mass can produce widespread rain or snow. This air mass is notorious for
producing fog, drizzle, cloudy weather and long lasting light to moderate rain. The temperature of
mP air ranges from just above freezing to below 70 ° F. mP air is modified as it moves over
elevated terrain. On the windward side of mountain ranges, mP air can produce an abundance of
rain and snow. Once on the lee side of mountains, the mP airmass modifies into a continental
airmass. These air masses produce cold fronts but the air is not as cold as polar or arctic fronts.
They are often termed "Pacific fronts" or "back-door cold fronts".

Continental Polar

This airmass has low dewpoints, cold temperatures and a high degree of stability. The denseness
of cP air creates surface high pressure and a trough aloft, especially when cP air moves into lower
latitudes. Precipitation in association with cP air is usually light due to the dryness and low
moisture capacity of the air. Precipitation is most common on the "edges" of cP air, especially
where it intersects and displaces mT air. Precipitation within a cP air mass is elevated and
dynamically induced. These dynamical uplift mechanisms include jet streaks, isentropic lifting and
positive differential vorticity advection. Cold surface temperatures and a dry boundary layer inhibit
thermodynamic convection.

cP air modifies rapidly as it moves to the South. The dewpoints remain low but the temperature of
this airmass increases when moving South due to the following: warmer soil temperature, a
shallower airmass, higher sun angles and a lack of surface snow cover. cP air will modify less
rapidly if soil temperature are abnormally low to the south (especially if surface snow cover
exists). On some occasions the subtropical jet will "overrun" the shallow cP air. If this occurs, the
cP air will modify less rapidly due to a much reduced solar heating. Once cP air modifies
significantly it no longer makes sense to label it Polar air. After modification, cP air becomes
modified cP air or modified mid-latitude continental air.

Continental Tropical

The source region for cT air is the desert Southwest, the high plains and Mexico. The air has low
dewpoints and warm to hot afternoon temperatures but with mild night-time temperature. Due to
the buoyancy and elevation of cT air across North America, this air will advect into the mid-levels
of the atmosphere once it moves out of its source region. This creates a cap of mild dry air. If this
air advects over PBL mT air, the severe thunderstorm threat increases significantly. The boundary
of cT is most noticeable with the creation of a dryline. A dryline separates mT air from cT air.
Depending on the strength of the dryline, convergence along the dryline and the dynamics above
the dryline, severe thunderstorms can form near a dryline boundary.

Arctic

The source region for A air is northern Canada. It has the same characteristics as Polar air except
it is colder with even lower dewpoints. This air often forms when a high pressure area becomes
nearly stationary over Eastern Alaska and the Yukon. Due to a near lack of winter solar radiation,
abundant surface snow/ice cover and the continuous emission of radiation from the Earth's surface
the air will progressively become colder and colder. Temperatures can reach -30 ° F to -60 ° F. If
the jet stream becomes meridional during the same time frame Arctic air builds, very cold air will
spread into Southern Canada and the US. Once Arctic air moves into the Southern US it modifies
to Polar air and then eventually to modified Polar Air behind the cold front boundary.

Highland

This air mass occurs in regions with large elevation changes over short distance. It is not a source
region for one particular type of air mass. Since highland climates are in an elevated terrain, they
can promote dryness in the interior of the highland climate. When air masses enter a highland
climate they modify due to these elevation changes. mP and mT air is dried (on lee-ward side) due
to orographic descent. cP air has difficulty entering a highland climate due to the high density of
the cP air. Cold dense air has difficulty moving over elevated terrain.

Some important points to keep in mind concerning air masses:

*Surface low pressure and fronts are most often found within the transition zone of air masses

*Fronts occur on the edges of polar air masses

*Cold/ dry air masses are stable due to having a higher density and higher average molecular
weight (dry air is more dense than moist air)

*Warm moist air masses are unstable due to a lower density due to thermal expansion and a lower
molecular weight.

*Air masses are 3-D. Polar and Arctic air masses become shallower moving away from the source
region.

*mT air can isentropicallly lift over mP or cP air creating elevated precipitation. This is especially
true north of warm fronts
*Low pressure forces air mass movement. With a strong low pressure, abnormally warm air will be
to the SE of the low with abnormally cool conditions to the west of the low.

*The mid-latitudes are unique in that they can experience several different air mass types over the
course of a year. Tropical and Polar areas tend to have more uniform weather throughout the year,
although the tropics can experience a wet and dry season while the polar elevation temperature
depends heavily on the sun angle from season to season.

*Air masses and air mass modification are determined by latitude, altitude, ocean currents,
sunshine hours, sunshine angle, vegetation, soil temperatures, snow cover, prevailing wind, etc.

Exam Question Tips (Fronts):

Average slope of cold front is 1:75 (vertical:horizontal) and for warm front it is 1:200

In JAA ATPL questions it is 1:75 (vertical:horizontal) for cold front and for warm front it is 1:150

The cold front is steeper than the warm front so the surface position of the cold front jet is closed
to the surface position of the cold front than the warm front jet is to the surface position of the
warm front.

For an airfield located in the British Isles, the passage of a warm front will usually be indicated by
rise in temperature, rise in dew point temperature and wind will veers and decrease.

Cold Air Pool

A topographic depression, such as a valley or basin, filled with cold air. The cold air is heavy, and
settles to the bottom of the depression. This air can remain stagnant, trapped by the surrounding
higher terrain, resulting in long periods of poor air quality and fog, depending on the sources of
pollution and amount of moisture in the air, respectively.

Extratropical Cyclones / Frontal Depression or Frontal Low

Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are a group of
cyclones defined as synoptic scale low pressure weather systems that occur in the middle latitudes
of the Earth (outside the tropics) having neither tropical nor polar characteristics, and are
connected with fronts and horizontal gradients in temperature and dew point otherwise known as
"baroclinic zones".
Extratropical cyclones are the everyday phenomena which, along with anticyclones, drive the
weather over much of the Earth, producing anything from cloudiness and mild showers to heavy
gales and thunderstorms.

Extratropical cyclones encompass a class of storms with many names. Although they are
sometimes referred to as "cyclones", this is imprecise; cyclone applies to numerous types of low
pressure areas. The descriptor extratropical signifies that this type of cyclone generally occurs
outside the tropics in the middle latitudes of Earth. The term mid-latitude cyclones may be used
because of where they form; "post-tropical cyclones" if extratropical transition has occurred.
Weather forecasters and the general public often describe them as "depressions" or "lows". Terms
like frontal cyclone, frontal depression, frontal low, extratropical low, non-tropical low and hybrid
low are often used as well.

Extratropical cyclones form anywhere within the extratropical regions of the Earth (usually
between 30° and 60° latitude from the equator), either through cyclogenesis or extratropical
transition.

Secondary Low / Depression

You sometimes here the word secondary depression used. This means another system within a low
pressure area it rotates anti clockwise around the main system. It moves also with the the main
low system known as the primary. This is really bad for flying as there are often gales in this area.