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FEED Book - Session 9: Climatology

Q1. What do you understand by the term ‘climate
forcings’? Discuss the probable impact of increased
concentration of greenhouse gasses on the heat budget of
the earth.
Any changes to the Earth’s climate system that affect how much energy enters or leaves the system
alters Earth’s radiative equilibrium and can force temperatures to rise or fall. These destabilizing
influences are called climate forcings. Natural climate forcings include changes in the Sun’s
brightness, Milankovitch cycles (small variations in the shape of Earth’s orbit and its axis of rotation
that occur over thousands of years), and large volcanic eruptions that inject light-reflecting particles
as high as the stratosphere. Manmade forcings include particle pollution (aerosols), which absorb
and reflect incoming sunlight; deforestation, which changes how the surface reflects and absorbs
sunlight; and the rising concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases,
which decrease heat radiated to space. A forcing can trigger feedbacks that intensify or weaken the
original forcing. The loss of ice at the poles, which makes them less reflective, is an example of a
feedback.

Carbon dioxide forces the Earth’s energy budget out of balance by absorbing thermal infrared
energy (heat) radiated by the surface. It absorbs thermal infrared energy with wavelengths in a part
of the energy spectrum that other gases, such as water vapor, do not. Although water vapor is a
powerful absorber of many wavelengths of thermal infrared energy, it is almost transparent to
others. The transparency at those wavelengths is like a window the atmosphere leaves open for
radiative cooling of the Earth’s surface. The most important of these “water vapor windows” is for
thermal infrared with wavelengths centered around 10 micrometers. (The maximum transparency
occurs at 10 micrometers, but partial transparency occurs for wavelengths between about 8 and
about 14 micrometers.)

The absorption of outgoing thermal infrared by carbon dioxide means that Earth still absorbs about
70 percent of the incoming solar energy, but an equivalent amount of heat is no longer leaving. The
exact amount of the energy imbalance is very hard to measure, but it appears to be a little over 0.8
watts per square meter. The imbalance is inferred from a combination of measurements, including
satellite and ocean-based observations of sea level rise and warming.

When a forcing like increasing greenhouse gas concentrations bumps the energy budget out of
balance, it doesn’t change the global average surface temperature instantaneously. It may take
years or even decades for the full impact of a forcing to be felt. This lag between when an imbalance
occurs and when the impact on surface temperature becomes fully apparent is mostly because of
the immense heat capacity of the global ocean. The heat capacity of the oceans gives the climate a
thermal inertia that can make surface warming or cooling more gradual, but it can’t stop a change
from occurring.

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The fifth assessment report of IPCC seems to corroborate with this idea. According to the report,
the Earth has been in radiative imbalance, with more energy from the Sun entering than exiting the
top of the atmosphere, since at least about 1970. It is virtually certain that the Earth has gained
substantial energy from 1971 to 2010. Ocean warming dominates that total heating rate, with full
ocean depth warming accounting for about 93% (high confidence), and warming of the upper (0 to
700 m) ocean accounting for about 64%. Melting ice (including Arctic sea ice, ice sheets and glaciers)
and warming of the continents each account for 3% of the total. Warming of the atmosphere makes
up the remaining 1%.

The changes we have seen in the climate so far are only part of the full response we can expect from
the current energy imbalance, caused only by the greenhouse gases we have released so far. Global
average surface temperature has risen between 0.6 and 0.9 degrees Celsius in the past century, and
it will likely rise at least 0.6 degrees in response to the existing energy imbalance.

As the surface temperature rises, the amount of heat the surface radiates will increase rapidly. If the
concentration of greenhouse gases stabilizes, then Earth’s climate will once again come into
equilibrium, albeit with the “thermostat”—global average surface temperature—set at a higher
temperature than it was before the Industrial Revolution.

However, as long as greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise, the amount of absorbed solar
energy will continue to exceed the amount of thermal infrared energy that can escape to space. The
energy imbalance will continue to grow, and surface temperatures will continue to rise.

Q2. Identify the major types of temperature inversions and

explain the significance of subsidence inversions.
In the lower part of the atmosphere up to a height of 8-18 kilometers from the surface, temperature
normally decreases with increasing altitude. The normal lapse rate is 6.5°C per kilometer. But sometimes,
under special circumstances, it is reversed and the temperature instead of decreasing is found to increase
with elevation, though only in certain layers of the atmosphere. In other words, the vertical temperature
gradient is inverted. In meteorology it is termed as inversion of temperature. Temperature inversion
may occur at low levels close to the land surface or it may also develop at various atmospheric levels at
different altitudes from the earth's surface.

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Types of temperature inversions : According to the processes that cause them and the relative heights
from earth's surface at which they develop, the temperature inversions may be classified in the following
types :—

1. Ground or surface inversions

a) Radiation inversions

b) Air Drainage inversions

c) Advection inversions

2. Upper-air inversions

a) Subsidence inversion

b) Frontal inversions.

Radiation inversions

The surface inversion produced by radiational cooling of lower air is called radiational inversion. The
inversion layer develops at an altitude of about 90 meters. Nocturnal cooling produced by the terrestrial
radiation is the principal factor for this type of temperature inversion. Since a land surface radiates
more heat than the air, ground is cooled more rapidly than the air at great heights during night time.
Consequently the coldest air lies at the ground and is overlaid by warmer air. The layers of air in close
proximity to the earth's surface are cooled by the processes of radiation and conduction more
quickly than the upper layers of air. Thus, at a certain height (90 meters) the temperature increases
with attitude, and this increase continues up to about 300 meters from the surface.

Air Drainage Inversions

In long winter nights the mountain slopes are chilled by nocturnal cooling, so that air temperature
in the adjoining layers drops to a considerable degree. On the other hand, the air in free
atmosphere at the same level is much warmer. The cold and denser air from slopes and hilltops tends
to slip down in the valley bottoms. Thus, an inverted lapse rate is created up the slopes and in the
free air over the valley floor. That is why fruit growers always prefer gentle lopes to valley bottom for
their orchards in countries like Switzerland and France. The orange gardens in California (U.S.A.) are found
on the slopes of hills rather than on valley floors. Similarly, vine yards in Alsace and Moselle valleys in

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France have strong preference for hillsides. In valley lowlands the crops that are not of hardier varieties
are damaged by killing frost on any clear, calm and cool night during the winter. So the coffee
plantations in the states of Brazil and Columbia are found on the mountain slopes beyond a certain
height to protect them from frost injuries.

Advection inversions

Advection of a thick layer of warm air over a cold surface produces an inversion of temperature in
the lower layers of the atmosphere for the warm air is cooled by conduction. Of course, this type of
inversion occurring at a certain height, i.e. the height of the warmer layer of air, is called advection
inversion. This type of stable inversion occurs when the warm air passes over a cold water surface. Under
these conditions, it may also occur over cold land surface or snow-covered ground. In the same
way, during summer the oceans are cooler than the adjacent land masses. So when a cool mass of
air is transported to the land, the presence of a warmer mass of air aloft produces the same type of
advection inversion. Warm and moist air masses coming from the oceans produce stable inversion
over the vast snow-covered lowland of northern Eurasia and northern Canada. Because of the
greater frequency of temperature inversions in cold months of the year, the lapse rates are low in
winter and steep in summer.

Subsidence inversions

Subsidence inversion, as the name indicates, is produced well above the earth's surface on account of
subsidence of air currents. This type of upper-air inversion occurs in an air mass when a thick mass of
air subsides. The sinking air warms at the dry adiabatic rate of 10°C/km. In certain cases, the
subsidence continues to a particular level where the air diverges horizontally above a lower layer.
Temperature inversion of this type generally develops in a layer separating the upper region of

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subsiding air and the lower region characterized by the absence of vertical motion. Subsidence
inversions are of common occurrence in regions of high pressure that are characterized by sinking
air. There are circumstances when during the night two inversion layers may develop in the high
pressure regions, one at the ground produced by radiational cooling and the other at considerable
altitudes produced by subsidence.

There are semi-permanent high pressure regions in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the latitude of
30°N, which are called the Azores High and the Pacific High respectively. Subsidence in the eastern
portions of these anticyclones being more pronounced leads to strong temperature inversions, usually at
about 500 m. to 1000 m. above sea-level.

The subsidence inversion is of great environmental significance. Atmospheric conditions above and
below the inversional layer show a sharp contrast. Above the inversion layer the lapse rate is steep,
approaching dry the adiabatic rate, but the air is dry. On the contrary, below the inversion the vertical
temperature gradient is steep, moisture content of the air is high and there is a larger amount of
cloudiness. Subsidence inversion plays vital role in controlling the vertical circulation in the tropical
atmosphere by restricting the vertical development of clouds. It virtually acts as a lid which
effectively limits convection, thereby restricting the rain making process.

Frontal inversions

The inverted lapse rate at the front is called frontal inversion, when differing air masses are brought
together by converging movements, the warmer air being relatively higher tends to overlie the colder
and denser air in a horizontal layer. However, because of the Coriolis force the boundary zone
between the air masses with contrasting physical properties are never horizontal; they are rather
sloping. In fact, the frontal zone itself is converted into inversion layer in which the lapse rate is
inverted. In other words, at the frontal zone as one moves up from the lower to upper layers of the
atmosphere, there is an increase in temperature with increasing altitudes.

Significance of Subsidence Inversions

The climatic as well as economic significance of temperature inversions is very great. Cloud-forms,
precipitation and atmospheric visibility, all are greatly affected by the inversion phenomenon. The upward
and downward movement of air currents as well as the mixing in atmospheric layers are largely
controlled by the existing lapse rate and the vertical temperature gradient at various levels.

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The inversion layer acts as a lid for the rising air currents. Thus, the convectional currents produced
by intense heating of the earth's surface during daytime can ascend up to the base of inversion.
Therefore the smoke and other atmospheric impurities are confined to the lower boundary of an
inversion layer.

Q3. Give a reasoned account of distribution of

atmospheric pressure over the earth surface.
Factors which control the distribution of temperature on the earth's surface equally govern the
distribution of pressure as well. This is mainly due to the fact that there is a close relationship between
pressure and temperature. Since there is a great variation in the amount of insolation received at
different parts of the earth's surface, there is a corresponding variation in temperatures also.

As can be seen from the diagram above, the distribution pattern of earth's average sea-level atmospheric
pressure displays something of a zonal arrangement following latitudes. It emerges that there are in all
seven alternating low and high pressure belts on the earth's surface. These pressure belts are as
follows:—

1. Equatorial trough of low pressure

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2. Subtropical high pressure belt (northern hemisphere).

3. Subtropical high pressure belt (southern hemisphere).
4. Subpolar low pressure belt (northern hemisphere).
5. Subpolar low pressure belt (southern hemisphere).
6. Polar high (northern hemisphere).
7. Polar high (southern hemisphere).

The arrangement of continuous pressure belts around the earth as referred to above appears to be ideal
as well as hypothetical, and far away from the actual conditions as they are observed on the earth's
surface. In fact, the unequal distribution of continents and oceans makes the distribution pattern more
complicated.

Equatorial trough of low pressure: The equatorial trough of low pressure is located in the vicinity of the
geographical equator between latitudes 5°N and 5°S.

Since the maximum insolation is available in the equatorial region, the earth's surface is intensely
heated during the day so that the lowermost layers of air get warmed. The heated air expands, becomes
lighter, and rises upward. Thus, convectional currents are set up in the atmosphere throughout the year.
Because of the warm and moist air moving upward, it has great potential for tremendous amount of
energy in the form of latent heat of condensation. In the equatorial low pressure belt the air is warm and
moist.

Equatorial trough of low pressure is the zone of convergence of trade winds blowing equatorward from
the sub-tropical belts of high pressure in the northern and southern hemispheres.

The equatorial trough of low pressure is, as it were, tied with the sun. Therefore it shifts towards the
north and south of equator with the apparent movement of the sun. During the month of July this low
pressure belt extends upto latitude 20°N in North Africa and to the north of the Tropic of Cancer in the
vast continent of Asia. In January it migrates to the south of equator. In the summer of southern
hemisphere it extends to latitudes 10° and 20°S.

Sub-tropical high pressure belt: The areas of sub-tropical high pressure are located between latitudes 25°
and 35° N and S. The most important feature of this pressure belt is that it is broken into a number of high
pressure centres or cells. These high pressure cells are the key points in the distributional pattern of
air pressure over the globe. But the exact causes of their origin are not yet fully known. The
meteorologists agree that these subtropical high pressure cells are dynamically produced due to the
rotation of earth. The subtropical highs are areas of sinking and settling air from higher altitudes which
tend to build up atmospheric pressure. In the upper atmosphere over this belt the upper level westerlies
and anti-trades converge and set up descending currents in the atmosphere.

These high-pressure zones are called the horse-latitudes. The cells of high pressure persist throughout
the year over the large ocean basin where there is a slight seasonal change in their position. However,
there are marked variations in their intensity and size. In the southern hemisphere higher pressures are
observed during the winter seasons. In this hemisphere there is an almost continuous belt of high
pressure, because the high pressure cells spread to adjacent continental areas during the winter
season. In the northern hemisphere, during the warmer part of the year, the subtropical high-pressure
areas record higher pressures.

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Both the dynamic and the thermal factors are responsible for the origin of subtropical highs, each
reinforcing the other. Sometimes, these factors have the opposite effect and tend to cancel out each
other. That is why there are seasonal variations in the intensity and location of subtropical high pressure
cells.

Subpolar low pressure belts: In the southern hemisphere there is an uninterrupted belt of low
pressure between latitudes 60° and 70°, where there is a vast expanse of the oceans. But in the northern
hemisphere there are large land masses between these latitudes which are very cold. Therefore the
pressures over these land masses are increased. Thus, the continuity of subpolar low pressure belt in
the northern hemisphere is broken. However, there are well-defined low pressure cells over the
northern oceans. The centres of these low pressure systems lie in the vicinity of Aleutian Islands in the
Pacific Ocean and between Greenland and Iceland in the Atlantic.

During the winter season, there is a great contrast between the temperatures of the continents and
adjacent oceans. This helps in reinforcing the Aleutian Low and the Icelandic Low. In summer the
temperature contrast between the continents and oceans is much reduced, so that the belt of subpolar
low is more developed and becomes more regular.

Polar highs: Pressures at the poles are consistently high throughout the year. In the northern
hemisphere the high pressure area is not centered at the pole, but it is believed to extend from
northern Greenland westward across the islands situated in northern part of Canada. From the reports
of explorers of Antarctica the existence of relatively higher pressure near the South Pole is confirmed.

As regards the origin of the cap of high pressure at the Poles, thermal factor seems to be more important
than the dynamic factor. Although because of the diurnal rotation of the earth the layers of air at the
poles are thinned out, the persistent low temperature makes the polar air cold and heavy. This gives
rise to the caps of high pressure in polar regions, the prevailing easterly winds blow out of these caps of
high pressure to the subpolar low-pressure systems. In the northern hemisphere these easterly
winds are deflected to the right of their original path and become polar north-easterlies, while in the
southern hemisphere the polar winds blow as south-easterlies.

Seasonal Variations in the Pressure Pattern

Distribution pattern in January

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Distribution pattern in July

The sun's direct rays change positions as they migrate between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Thus, following the apparent movement of sun the pressure belts move nothward in July and
southward in January. These seasonal variations in the pressure pattern are, of course, thermally
induced. In the tropical region seasonal variations in pressure are no doubt very small, because
temperatures remain uniformly high throughout the year with little variation. In high latitudes, on the
contrary, the seasonal variations in pressure tend to be much larger because of an increasing contrast in
the angle of incidence and the length of daylight.

The general pattern of seasonal pressure variation is changed to a great extent in the northern
hemisphere where there is preponderance of landmasses over the oceanic areas accounting for about
40% of the total surface.

Q4. Discuss the characteristics of Ferrel cell.

A Ferrel Cell is a circulation pattern named for William Ferrel (1817–1891), an American
meteorologist who discovered the effects of the Earth’s motion in wind systems. Although George
Hadley had recognized the convective nature of the air in 1735, and M. F. Maury, in 1855, had
proposed a good model for the atmospheric circulation, both lacked an appreciation of the nature of
the westerlies. Ferrel brought a fundamental knowledge of mechanics and mathematics to the
subject (Clayton, 1923) and first sketched the diagram of the planetary surface winds that appears in
almost every geography textbook. He pointed out that the total movement of air to the east must
balance the total movement to the west or else the Earth’s rotation would be accelerated or
retarded. His model also included a profile of the upper air winds, which incorporated Hadley Cells
(simple convection) north and south of the equator and at the poles; in the latter a polar anticyclone
operated by centrifugal force was postulated. A reversed circulation was shown in the temperate
belts (30–60 lat.), thereby recognizing the component of the westerlies.
The warm air of the tropical cell sinks along the high pressure belts and in parts moves into the
northerly setting westerly circulation. This circulation component is now known as the Ferrel Cell.
Even though modern models reject the polar anticyclonic cell, the Ferrel and Hadley cells are now
fairly well confirmed by observations at all levels. The Ferrel Cell plays a major part in the poleward
energy (mainly heat) transport. North of about latitude 38N in the northern hemisphere the

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precipitation exceeds evaporation, so that water vapor (representing latent heat) must be
transported northward.

Q5. Discuss the probable impact of global warming on the

atmospheric circulation.
Discussed in the class.

Q6. Write a short note on Equatorial Westerlies.

In the summer hemisphere, and over continental areas especially, there is a narrow zone of
generally westerly winds intervening between the two trade wind belts. This westerly system is well
marked over Africa and South Asia in the northern hemisphere summer, when thermal heating over
the continents assists the northward displacement of the equatorial trough. Over Africa, the
westerlies reach 2 to 3 km and over the Indian Ocean 5 to 6 km. In Asia, these winds are known as
the 'Summer Monsoon', but this is now recognized to be a complex phenomenon, the cause of
which is partly global and partly regional in origin. The equatorial westerlies are not simply trades of
the opposite hemisphere that recurve (due to the changed direction of the Coriolis deflection) on
crossing the equator. There is on average a westerly component in the Indian Ocean at 2 to 3°S in
June and July and at 2 to 3°N in December and January. Over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, the
ITCZ does not shift sufficiently far from the equator to permit the development of this westerly wind
belt.

Distribution of the equatorial westerlies in any layer below 3 km (about 10,000 ft) for January and July.

Q7. Discuss the major characteristics of mid-latitude

westerlies.
the westerlies prevail between latitudes 35° and 60° or 65° north and south in both the
hemispheres. The westerlies blow from the horse latitudes towards subpolar low pressure belt in
each hemisphere. The poleward boundary of the westerlies' belt often fluctuates with the seasons.
But this boundary changes its position over short periods of time also. The westerlies are highly

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variable winds, blowing at times with gale force, and at other times they are gentle as a mild breeze.
In the westerly wind belt winds blow from all directions. High degree of variability is the key note of
these winds.

A large number of travelling cyclones and anticyclones make the weather in this belt highly variable.
Sudden changes in weather is another important characteristic of the westerlies. However, the
sequence of weather and winds at a particular station depends on its location with reference to a
moving cyclone.

In the northern hemisphere the preponderance of land makes the wind system in the westerlies
more complex. Seasonal variation in temperature and pressure over huge land masses is the main
factor causing seasonal variability in the direction and strength of the westerlies. In winter the
easterlies are far more vigorous than in summer. It is of particular interest to note that in winter the
weather over the North Atlantic region is very stormy.

During the winter season the poleward boundary of the westerlies in the vicinity of the subpolar
trough of low pressure experiences great thrusts of polar air. It is here that the great polar air
masses moving equatorward clash with the relatively warmer air masses from the low latitudes. The
result is the creation of a surface of discontinuity called the polar fronts. Along these fronts are born
most of the extratropical disturbances which characterize the climate of this zone. The weather
along the poleward margin of the westerlies is, therefore, the stormiest of all the regions in the
world.

The conditions in the belt of westerlies in the southern hemisphere are altogether different. There
being a larger percentage of water surface, the westerlies blow with full vigour without any
interruption.

Q8. What do you understand by the concept thermal

winds? Identify the major thermal winds of the world.
Changes in pressure distributions with height are largely related to changes of temperature. We can
see how this can be so with reference to two adjacent columns of air in the troposphere depicted in
Fig. below.

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At ground level the pressure exerted by the two is the same, but important changes ensue if we
assume that column A is warmer, and therefore less dense throughout than B. This means that for
any level higher up in the two columns, for instance at 2 km, there is a greater pressure of air still
above this level in column A than in column B. In other words, a pressure gradient from A to B
gradually develops and intensifies with height, where none existed at the surface. We can thus
visualise a gradual change of velocity of the geostrophic wind with height, the wind at the top of the
air layers being very much stronger than that lower down. Such a change of wind velocity is known
as wind shear. There is also in practice likely to be a gradual change of wind direction.

It is possible to calculate fairly easily on a vector diagram the mean wind direction and force
between the geostrophic winds at the top and bottom of a layer. This vector difference is known as
the thermal wind, since it derives from temperature contrasts in the atmosphere. It is a useful
concept in meteorology since it can be used to predict the influx of warm or cold air into a region.
Fig. above illustrates that the thickness of the atmosphere between any two pressure levels is
related to temperature. Warm air causes a large thickness, and a small thickness results from cold
air. This is the basis for the construction of a thickness chart, which is another method of plotting
upper air patterns. The usual thickness chart employed in meteorology is for the layer 1000-500 mb.
On a thickness chart, the thermal wind blows at right angles to the thickness lines, which are in
effect isotherms. In the northern hemisphere, where the Coriolis deflection is to the right, cold air
always lies to the left of the thermal wind when viewed downwind, and to the right in the southern
hemisphere.

Applying this on a global scale, the gradual poleward decrease of temperature in the atmosphere
from the equator should result in a large westerly component in the upper winds, and in fact we find
that in both hemispheres most upper winds are westerly.

High-flying aircraft during the Second World War from time to time encountered upper winds of
very great velocity. These have since been the subject of considerable study and are now known to
be concentrated bands of rapid air movement, which are termed jet streams. They occur near the
top of the troposphere, and are in reality intense thermal winds, being associated with latitudes
where the poleward temperature gradient is particularly strong. Two such zones occur in each
hemisphere. One, the subtropical jet stream, occurs at about 30° of latitude, and the other, the polar
front jet stream, is associated with the polar front zone in each hemisphere.

Q9. With suitable examples, bring out the impact of local

winds on the climate of an area.
Discussed in the class.

Q10. Discuss the major monsoon climates of the world.

1) True monsoon climate:

 These climates are those where there is full reversal (180 degree) in direction of winds with
changing season. Such a phenomena is primarily result of high continentality which causes
intense heating of land surface & development of high temperature during summers. This
causes poleward migration of ITCZ to farthest extent generally to about 30o latitudes. This

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shifting forces the trade winds of winter hemisphere to cross equator and be deflected cum-
sole making them acquire westerly component.

 Thus, during summers there is dominance of modified trade winds which are on-shore.
These on-shore trade winds lead to heavy precipitation particularly during late summer
months. Infact 80% of precipitation is concentrated in 4 late summer months. During winters
ITCZ migrates to opposite hemisphere following the apparent movement of Sun. Thus,
normal easterly trade winds are established which are off-shore. As a result, winter becomes
dry in such true monsoon climates. E.g. South Asia, South-east Asia and to some extent
northern Australia (although some authorities put it into pseudo-monsoon category).
2) Tropical Pseudo-monsoon climate:
 Distribution: Eastern Africa, Eastern Madagascar, guinea coast of Africa, parts of Latin
America.
 Those climates where there is reversal in direction of winds but such a reversal is
incomplete. In other words, opposite direction winds can also be found. E.g. Along guinea
coast: summer season is dominated by south-easterly winds as ITCZ migrates polewards, but
during winter season it is found that there are 2 opposite components in winds direction
viz., – Interior part: easterly winds (dry & off-shore); Coastal part: there is also presence of
south-westerly winds which are on-shore and even provide precipitation during winter.
 Reason: A shift of ITCZ is lesser in winters & is not far southwards (in sea).
 Differences:
 True Monsoon:
1) High continentality.
2) 80% of precipitation in summers.
3) Maximum reversal/full reversal.
 Pseudo Monsoon:
1) Lower continentality.
2) 60% of precipitation is in summers.
3) Lesser reversal of winds.

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3) Sub-tropical Pseudo-monsoon climate:

Distribution: China type climates, eastern Asia & Southeastern U.S. These primarily coincide with
china type climates which like monsoon climates are characterised with seasonal reversal in wind
direction. Despite such similarity there are differences from true climates:
i. Although it is result of poleward shifting of ITCZ but nature of reversal is different. Here
westerly component is dominant during winter and easterly component is dominant during
a summer which is opposite to the case of true monsoons. (Shifting of wind-pressure belts)
ii. Unlike true monsoon climate reversal of wind direction is not complete particularly during
summer whereby westerly component dominates in the interior part of these climates while
easterly component is dominant in coastal part.
iii. Unlike true monsoon here precipitation is well distributed throughout the year. Even winter
season receives considerable precipitation in form of snow from travelling western
disturbances which are brought by westerlies.
iv. In Summer season, considerable part of precipitation is received from travelling low
pressure depressions brought by the easterly winds. Here components of precipitation from
these low pressure depressions are higher in proportion than in true monsoon climate.

Q11. Discuss the index cycle of the jet streams as well as

its significance.
Figure below shows different stages of the index cycle of jet streams.

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In the first stage the jet stream lies quite close to the polar regions and flows from due west to east.
In the northern hemisphere, the cold air mass is found to the north of the upper-level westerlies. To
the south of the jet lies the mild air of the midlatitudes. The westerlies in this stage have shifted
towards higher latitudes where there is a lot of cyclonic activity. Pressure systems in this stage have got
east-west orientation. North-south pressure gradient is relatively steeper. The air mass exchange
between the temperate and tropical regions is at its minimum. The first stage thus represents the high
zonal index.

In the second stage, the amplitude of jet stream waves increases. The whole of the jet moves towards
the equator as a result of which there is an inroad of cold polar air southward. The warm air masses
from lower latitudes move towards higher latitudes.

In the third stage, the bends in the jet stream become sharper and the amplitude of waves registers a
further increase. At this stage the tropical air masses move farther north, and the cold polar air
moves farther south. Now, the jet stream is positioned nearer the equator and the exchange of tropical
and polar air masses takes place on a much larger scale. The temperature gradient is directed from
east to west.

In the last stage of index cycle, the giant size meanders of the jet are cut off from the main stream. The
result is that an immense pool of cold and dense polar air is isolated in the upper troposphere of the
lower latitudes where it is encircled by entirely different air masses. In the upper atmosphere of higher
latitudes the tropical air masses are entrapped by the colder air. This is called the low zonal index of
the jet stream. The zonal character of the upper-level westerlies is no longer in existence. They are
fragmented into a number of cells. The last stage has been depicted in.

Significance. Discussed in the class

Q12. “The atmospheric instability is the key to understand

various atmospheric disturbances.” Elaborate.
Discussed in the class.

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Q13. Write a short note on convective instability.

Sometimes there are situations when a layer of air, several hundreds of meters thick and
thousands of kilometers in areal extent, is forced to rise. Such an extensive and thick layer of air
may be moist in its lower part and dry in the upper part. Thus, an anomaly is produced in the
vertical distribution of humidity. Such a type of uplift causes the air, which may be initially stable, to
become unstable from the adiabatic effect on internal temperature-humidity conditions.

There is a deep layer of air in which the two points A and B represent the temperatures at particular
elevations. The lapse rate is indicated by the sloping line AB. Since air at A is more humid than that
at B, after being displaced it reaches the condensation level sooner than that at B. The bottom of
the layer cools at the dry-adiabatic lapse rate from 20°C at point A to 16.7°C at 950 mb level where
it becomes saturated. Further cooling carries the bottom of the layer from the condensation level
to A along its pseudoadiabat. It arrives at 700 mb at a temperature of 3.7°C. On the other hand, the
top of the layer cools at the dry-adiabatic lapse rate from 17.5°C at 900 mb to 0°C at its
condensation level at about 730 mb. From this point upward the saturated top layer cools at the
retarded adiabatic rate. It arrives at 600 mb level at a temperature of 8.3°C. Thus, after uplift the
layer having the initial lapse rate AB has the new lapse rate A'B' which is steeper than before.

Hence, it may be concluded that, in general, saturation lifting decreases the stability even more
than does the unsaturated lifting. The mechanism of convective instability is significant in the
dynamics of weather conditions. When convectively or conditionally unstable air masses, in which
the surface layers are humid and the moisture content decreases with height, are lifted, there is
heavy precipitation from cumulonimbus type of clouds. Besides, convective instability in the layers
of the atmosphere is a contributory factor in the formation of violent storms like tornadoes,
thunderstorms and squalls etc.

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Q14. Discuss the Cloud Instability theory of Bergeron. How

Coalescence and Langmuir theory of precipitation filled
the gaps in left by Bergeron.
The cloud instability theory to explain precipitation was propounded by Tor Bergeron. According to
the theory in certain cloud forms the droplets have a tendency to join together as a result of which
the big-size rain drops develop. There is colloidal instability in such clouds, and they are producers
of precipitation. Thus, any process which brings about an element of colloidal instability in a cloud
may be said to be responsible for causing the clouds to release precipitation.

It is based on two special meteorological properties of water.

 First, the water droplets in a cloud do not freeze at 0°C. Hence water droplets and ice
crystals are found together in unstable cloud In the atmosphere super-cooled water has
been observed down to below -40°C. When water remains in liquid state below 0°C it is
referred to as super-cooled.
 Other fact is that “the relative humidity of air is greater with respect to an ice surface than
with respect to water surface”.
The super-cooled water tends to freeze, if it is disturbed. Besides, supercooled droplets also freeze
when they come into contact with a tiny solid nucleus, about 1 micro-meter in diameter. This is
called a freezing nucleus. Most of the nuclei become active at -20° to -25°C. However, freezing
nuclei are sparse in the atmosphere. Thus, when the ascending air currents rise well above the
freezing level, some of the water droplets will be changed into ice, and through sublimation water
vapour will enter into solid state.

With the fall of air temperature below 0 C the atmospheric vapour pressure decreases more rapidly
over ice surface than over water surface with the result saturation vapour pressure becomes greater
over water surface than than ice surface when the air temperature ranges between -5 C and -25 C
and the difference between saturation vapour pressure and ice surfaces exceeds 0.2mb. In such
condition, when air temperature ranges between -5 C and -25 C, water droplets become super-
saturated. In such case super cooled water droplets gets evaporated and resultant vapour gets
deposited on the surface of ice crystals.

It may be pointed that the formation of ice particles requires freezing nuclei (e.g. fin soil particles,
meteoric dust etc. because for pure water to freeze temperature needed would be -40 C.) in the same
manner as the formation of water droplets requires the presence of hygroscopic nuclei. This is the
reason why only some of the water droplets are able to convert in to ice crystals other remains as super
cooled water droplets only. This creates difference of vapour pressure w.r.t ice crystals surface and
super cooled water droplets. Slowly and slowly ice crystals grow in size as the deposition of vapour
derived through evaporation of super-cooled water droplets on their surface continues. Ice crystals then
aggregate due to their mutual collision and thus they form large snow flakes. When the ice crystals
become large and their falling velocity exceeds the velocity of rising air currents, they fall downward.
When the falling velocity exceeds the velocity of rising air currents, they fall downward. When the falling
crystals pass through a thick layer of air with temperature more than 0 c, they are changed into
raindrops and thus rainfall begins.

Until 1940s, it was the common belief that all precipitation originated through the Bergeron process.
Only light drizzle was supposed to come from clouds located well below the freezing point. If it were

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true, then substantial precipitation could only be generated from such clouds as extended to such
heights where temperatures would be much below the freezing point. But this is not true. In the
tropics, cumulus clouds with only 2000 m thickness start giving precipitation over the oceans. The
temperature in the uppermost part of these clouds seldom falls below 5°C. It is, therefore, true that
ice particles contribute little in the development of rain drops of sufficient size in such warm clouds.
According to some meteorologist occurrence of precipitation from such clouds involves the collision,
coalescence and sweeping of cloud droplets of different sizes. Some meteorologists believe that
atmospheric turbulence causes collision of cloud droplets. Due to collision they coalesce and grow in
size. But this theory suffers from two shortcomings (I) collision may cause splitting and scattering of
clouds droplets rather than their aggregation due to coalescence, and (ii) there is little or often no
precipitation from turbulent clouds. This is called the general coalescence theory.
Langmuir suggested modifications in the above general coalescence theory. According to him the
terminal velocities of falling drops are directly related to their diameters. In other words, larger
drops fall with greater velocity than smaller drops. Thus, large drops absorb smaller droplets.
Smaller droplets are also swept by larger droplets. All these lead to increase in size of larger droplets
which become raindrops which fall as rains because they can’t be held in suspension by rising air
currents.
Since the rate of fall of these unequal particles is different, they collide with each other within the
cloud, and the larger drops grow at the expense of the smaller ones. In fact, the rate of growth of
falling water droplets depends on variables like the size and size distribution of the drops, and their
concentration in the cloud.
In clouds with great vertical thickness and abundant moisture, cloud droplets are repeatedly carried
upward and downward by ascending and descending air currents. Hence these drops quickly reach
the required size.

Q15. Global precipitation is zonal in nature. Critically

analyse.
The average annual precipitation over the whole earth is about 80 centimeters (30 inches), but this
is distributed very unevenly. Equatorial regions and the monsoon areas of Southeast Asia record the
highest rainfall. Temperate regions, on the other hand, receive moderate amounts of precipitation.
The dry regions of subtropical high pressure belt and polar regions receive little precipitation.

Despite variability, the global precipitation seems to be zonal in nature. It is clear from the following
analysis:
(1) Maximum precipitation occurs in a belt about 10 to 20 degrees wide near the equator.
The average precipitation is about 160 centimeters.
(2) At latitudes about 20 to 30° North and South are found the belts of lower precipitation.
The mean annual precipitation is about 80 to 90 centimeters. In this belt of subtropical
anticyclones, the air subsides and so it becomes warm and dry.
(3) In latitude zones extending from 40 to 55° North and South the mean annual
precipitation varies from 80 to 120 centimeters. This is the secondary belt of maximum
precipitation in both the hemispheres. In this belt mostly cyclonic activity accounts for
the heavy amount of precipitation.

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(4) There is an abrupt diminution in the amount of precipitation in both the hemispheres
from about 50 to 55° latitudes reaching the primary zonal minima of less than 15
centimeters in the polar regions.
(5) Total annual precipitation is the same for both the hemispheres. However, there are
certain disimilarities in the zonal distribution of precipitation in the northern and
southern hemispheres : (a) Latitudes 0 to 10° North have more precipitation than
latitudes 0 to 10°S. This is because of the fact that intertropical convergence is more
extensive in the north than in the south of the equator. Besides, for a greater part of the
year, the ITC is located to the north of the equator, (b) the belt extending from 40 to 60°
South latitude receives much greater precipitation than the corresponding belt in the
northern hemisphere. This is because of the larger proportion of ocean in this latitudinal
belt in the southern hemisphere.
(6) Despite the preponderance of land masses in the northern hemisphere,the average
annual precipitation for both the hemispheres remains the same. Almost 50 per cent of
the total precipitation falls between 20° N and 20° S latitudes. In this extensive belt the
proportion of land in both the hemispheres is the same.

Critical Analysis. Discussed in the class

Q16. Identify the major components of the hydrological

cycle and discuss the impact of human beings on these
components.
Discussed in the class.

Q20. Attempt a classification of air masses and give the

characteristic features and associated weather conditions
of each class.
Air masses are classified on the basis of (a) the location of their source regions, and (b) the nature of
the surface over which they move towards other regions. Pettersen has classified air masses into the
following five major categories on the basis of their source regions : (1) Tropical air masses, (2) Polar air
masses, (3) Equatorial air masses, (4) Arctic air masses, and (5) Antarctic air masses. But according to
Byers, there are only three major categories of air masses, i.e. Arctic, Polar and Tropical air masses.

Trewartha, on the basis of the geographical location of air masses, classifies them into the following
two broad categories:

(1) Polar air mass, for which a capital P is used.

(2) Tropical air mass, for which a capital T is used.

He is of the opinion that Arctic, Antarctic and Equatorial air masses do not have individual identity of
their own. They are considered to be the modified forms of polar and tropical air masses.

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He further subdivides the polar as well as tropical air masses into two types on the basis of the nature of
the surface of their source regions, i.e., land or water:

(a) Continental air mass indicated by a small letter c.

(b) Maritime air mass indicated by a small letter m.

The continental air masses originate over the continents, and the maritime air masses form over the
oceans. Maritime air masses have originally large quantity of moisture which they have picked up from
the oceans over which they were formed. They have, therefore, a natural tendency for condensation in
them. On the contrary, the continental air masses are originally dry. When they move out to oceans,
they acquire a large amount of moisture by the process of evaporation from the sea surface. In this
way the continental air masses develop the characteristics of maritime air masses gradually. Similarly,
the maritime air masses while passing over the continents lose their moisture and undergo
modification rather slowly. Hence, on the basis of the source regions as well as the nature of their
surface the following four principal types of air masses may be considered:

(1) Continental Polar air masses (cP)

(2) Maritime Polar air masses (mP)

(3) Continental Tropical air masses (cT)

(4) Maritime Tropical air masses (mT).

Besides the above classification, when various thermodynamic and mechanical modifications of the
air masses are taken into consideration, a more elaborate classification consisting of the following 16
types is obtained:

(1) Continental polar air mass (cP)

a) Continental polar cold stable air mass (cPKs)

b) Continental polar cold Unstable air mass (cPKu)
c) Continental polar warm Stable air mass (cPWs)
d) Continental polar warm Unstable air mass (cpWu)
(2) Maritime polar air mass (mP)

a) Maritime Polar Cold Stable Air Mass (mPKs)

b) Maritime Polar Cold Unstable Air Mass (mPKu)
c) Maritime Polar Warm Stable Air Mass (mPWs)
d) Maritime Polar Warm Unstable Air Mass (mPWu)
(3) Continental tropical air mass (cT)

a) Continental Tropical Cold Stable Air Mass (cTKs)

b) Continental Tropical Cold Unstable Air Mass (cTKu)
c) Continental Tropical Cold Stable Air Mass (cTWs)
d) Continental Tropical Cold Stable Air Mass (cTWu)
(4) Maritime Tropical Air Mass (mT)

a) Maritime Tropical Cold Stable Air Mass (mTKs)

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b) Maritime Tropical Cold Untable Air Mass (mTKs)

c) Maritime Tropical warm Stable Air Mass (mTKs)
d) Maritime Tropical warm Unstable Air Mass (mTKs)
Associated weather conditions of each class - Discussed in the class.

Q18. Explain the preconditions required for frontogenesis

to occur. Highlight the major areas of frontogenesis
around the globe. (15 Marks)
Discussed in the class.

Q19. Discuss the sequence of weather found along a

temperate cyclone.
Different parts of temperate cyclones are associated with varying weather conditions because of
different types of air masses and varying temperature conditions. The observation point of a moving
temperate cyclone experiences different weather conditions at the time of arrival and passage of
warm front, warm sector, cold front and cold sector.
1. Arrival of Cyclone-When the cyclone coming from the western direction draws nearer to the
observation point, wind velocity slows down considerably, air pressure decreases and the
sun and the moon are encircled by halo which is infact the reflection of thin ‘veneers of
cirrus and cirrostratus clouds in the west Temperature suddenly increases when the cyclone
comes very close to the observation point, wind direction changes from easterly to south-
easterly, the cloud cover thickens and the sky becomes overcast with dark, thick and low
clouds.
2. Warm Frontal Precipitation-Clouds become very thick and dark with the arrival of warm
front of the cyclone and heavy showers begin with nimbostratus clouds. Since the warm air
rises slowly along the front, and hence the precipitation is slow, gradual but of long duration.
The warm frontal precipitation largely depends on the amount of moisture and instability of
the rising warm air. If the air is full of moisture and is unstable, there is sufficient
precipitation, the sky is overcast and the sun is not visible for several hours.
3. Warm Sector-The warm sector comes over the observation point after the passage of warm
front and there is sudden change in the pre-existing weather conditions. The wind direction
becomes southerly. The sky becomes cloudless and clear. There is sudden rise in air
temperature and increase in the specific humidity of the air but air pressure decreases
remarkably. Though weather becomes ‘clear but there may be some occasional drizzles. In
all, the weather is clear and pleasant.
4. Cold Front- Temperature registers marked decrease with the arrival of cold front. Cold
increases considerably. The cold air pushes the warm air upward and there is change in wind
direction from southerly to south-westerly and westerly. Sky is again covered with clouds
which soon start precipitation.
5. Cold Frontal Precipitation-Sky becomes overcast with cumulonimbus clouds which yield
heavy showers. Since the warm air is forcibly lifted upward hurriedly, the cold frontal
precipitation is in the form of heavy downpour with cloud thunder and lightning but the
precipitation is of short duration and less widespread because the cold sector is very close.

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6. Cold Sector-Weather again changes remarkably with the passage of cold front and arrival of
cold sector. Sky becomes cloudless and hence clear. There is sharp fall in air temperature
and considerable rise in air pressure but decrease in specific humidity. Wind direction
changes from 45° to 180° and thus it becomes true westerly. After the occlusion of cyclone
the weather conditions of pre-cyclone period again set in.
Q20. Discuss the origin, distribution of mid-latitude anti-
cyclones along with the associated weather conditions.
Anticyclones are high pressure systems around which the wind blows clockwise in the northern
hemisphere, and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere. There are various types of
anticyclones such as the cold-core anticyclones of the high latitudes and the warm-core anticyclones
of lower latitudes.

Cold anticyclones of the middle latitudes are also called 'polar outbreak highs'. Sometimes the last
member of a cyclone family draws cold air masses from the sub-polar regions in its rear part. These
rapidly moving anticyclones move southward towards the lower latitudes. This produces the cold
waves so often experienced in the southern parts of the temperate regions. When they enter into
the subtropical regions, they undergo a gradual transformation and ultimately become warm
anticyclones.

Origin & development

According to the baroclinic theory, cyclones and anticyclones in the temperate region form as a result of
the baroclinic instability. The potential energy in the zonal flow is converted into kinetic energy of eddies.
Baroclinicity in the atmosphere is represented by a frontal region.

In the troposphere, there is a continuous decrease in temperature from the equator towards the
poles. The meridional temperature gradient goes on increasing and it makes the zonal flow
unstable. At a certain stage the flow is broken down into a number of cyclonic and anticyclonic
circulations.

On account of the baroclinic instability, meanders in the jet stream are produced. The meandering jet
stream produces ridges and troughs in the upper air flow. A ridge of high pressure draws warm air
towards the pole. A trough of low pressure, on the other hand, allows cold air to move towards the
equator. Thus, the wave flow of the upper westerlies provides an important mechanism for the growth
of anti-cyclones. Transfer of heat that takes place across the temperature zone is effected by the
cyclones and anticyclones. The existence of wave and eddies in the general flow pattern of the globe is
essential for the maintenance of the latitudinal heat balance. The wavy pattern aloft largely
determines the pressure patterns at the surface which ultimately gives rise to anti-cyclones.

Distribution
The regions of origin and paths of movement of the cold and warm anticyclones are different.
Subpolar regions give birth to cold anticyclones which always move towards the south. However, the
source regions as well as the tracks followed by anticyclones tend to shift towards the north in
summer and south in winter.

In winter, there are two regions of high frequency of cold anticyclones: the extensive plateau of the
Rocky mountains in northwestern Canada and east central Siberia. The states of Nevada, Utah, and
Idaho have the largest number of anticyclones. The area extending from Alaska to the Great Plains

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has high frequency of high pressure systems. These anticyclones are cold and shallow highs
comprising the polar continental air (cP).

The cold Canadian anticyclones, which travel from their centres of origin to the Middle Atlantic
States, bring with them cold waves, blizzards or snow storms and lowest temperatures to the
Mississippi Valley. Some of these anticyclones push their way to the Gulf States where they are
called 'norther', the most dreaded weather phenomenon.
Cold anticyclones originating in east central Siberia travel towards northern China and reach the
mouth of the Yangtze River. They sometimes cross over to Japan.

In Europe, there are only a few cold anticyclones moving southward from the Peninsula of
Scandinavia.

In summer the storm paths and their centres of maximum frequency shift towards the north. The
Great Lake region has a maximum of anticyclone frequency in summer, whereas the cold
anticyclones of the winter months avoid this region because of intense cyclonic development there.
In eastern Asia too, the number of anticyclones is greatly reduced. Some of the feeble anticyclones
move across China in summer. Now, the subtropical anticyclones follow a more northerly route.
Their frequency over the eastern Pacific is high, and there are only a few high pressure systems in
the western part. This is so because in this part of the Pacific the summer monsoon dominates the
weather drama. A number of warm subtropical anticyclones pass over the Mediterranean Sea.

Associated Weather

Anticyclone circulation is characterized by subsidence and surface divergence. Since there is

subsidence within these anticyclones, there is subsidence inversion produced in the atmosphere
which results in atmospheric stability. Thus, unlike cyclones, the anticyclones are always associated
with scanty rainfall. Subsidence and divergent wind system within an anticyclone do not favour
condensation and cloud formation. But in case the southeasterly air is moist, there may be some
precipitation on the rear of an anticyclone. On occasions, the cold northwesterly winds may produce
snowfall. Whatever uncertainty in weather is produced, it is because the anticyclones are often
capped by cyclonic circulation aloft.

The surface temperature conditions in an anticyclone depend upon temperature of the air masses
involved, humidity of air, and season of the year.

In winter, the cold anticyclones originating in the snow-covered subpolar regions always bring with
them very low temperatures and blizzards which render the winter chill unbearable. The middle-
latitude anticyclones always produce the lowest temperatures of the season.
In summer, the stagnant type of warm anticyclones associated with the air of subtropical or tropical
origin produce extremely high temperatures, called 'heat waves'. Clear weather allows the maximum
receipts of solar radiation during the day. Tropical air masses carry heat to the north as the high
pressure system moves into the sub-polar regions.

Since the anticyclonic conditions favour clear weather, the diurnal range of temperature is bound to
be large.

Q21. Discuss the formation of Airmass Thunderstorms.

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Thunderstorms form when warm, humid air rises in an unstable environment.Various mechanisms
can trigger the upward air movement needed to create thunderstormproducing cumulonimbus
clouds. One mechanism, the unequal heating of Earth’s surface, significantly contributes to the
formation of air-mass thunderstorms. These storms are associated with the scattered puffy
cumulonimbus clouds that commonly form within maritime tropical air masses and produce
scattered thunderstorms on summer days. Such storms are usually short lived and seldom produce
strong winds or hail.

Virtually a thunderstorm is composed of several convective cells with updrafts and downdrafts
joined together. These cells in a thunderstorm are several kilometers in extent and go through a life
cycle.

Generally a thunderstorm has 3 to 5 cells, each of which goes through a life cycle. In the life cycle of
a cell there are three distinct stages determined by the magnitude and direction of the ascending or
descending air currents. These stages are as follows :-
1. Cumulus stage. In the cumulus stage there is an updraft throughout the cell. The
cloud contains precipitation particles. As the cloud grows larger in size, the updrafts
become stronger and more widespread. These updrafts sometimes acquire speeds of
160 km per hour so that they are able to uphold the large hailstones aloft. In the upper
parts of the cloud, large quantities of liquid water particles and ice crystals co-exist, a
fact which initiates the downdraft.
2. Mature stage. The stage of maturity is marked by strong updrafts and downdrafts in
the cloud. Heavy precipitation falls on the ground. The frictional drag exerted by
precipitation, according to Byers, changes the updraft into a downdraft which continues
further on its own.
The falling of precipitation and the beginning of downdrafts take place simultaneously. It
is to be pointed out that at maturity the upper parts of the cloud are characterized by
updrafts and the lower parts, on the other hand, have more pronounced downdrafts.
The severity of thunderstorm is at its peak. Maximum of lightning and thunder is seen in
this stage. Weather at the surface is characterized by heavy rainfall and high velocity
winds. The most severe turbulence, often a weather hazard to flying aeroplanes, marks
the weather aloft.
3. Dissipating stage. The disappearance of updrafts marks the beginning of the
dissipating stage. This stage is characterized by weak downdrafts and light rain.
Downdraft air spreads on the ground outward. The out-flowing surface winds are often
very gusty and wind velocity is nearly high. Sometimes the downndraft which spreads
over the entire area of the cell produces most welcome cooling effect on hot summer
days.
Q22. Explain the origin, distribution and characteristics of
tornadoes.
Tornadoes, sometimes called twisters or cyclones, are violent windstorms that take the form of a
rotating column of air, or vortex, that extends downward from a cumulonimbus cloud. Pressures
within some tornadoes have been estimated to be as much as 10 percent lower than immediately
outside the storm. Drawn by the much lower pressure in the center of the vortex, air near the
ground rushes into the tornado from all directions. As the air streams inward, it is spiraled upward

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around the core until it eventually merges with the airflow of the parent thunderstorm deep in the
cumulonimbus tower.

Because of the rapid drop in pressure, air sucked into the storm expands and cools adiabatically. If
the air cools below its dew point, the resulting condensation creates a pale and ominous-appearing
cloud that may darken as it moves across the ground, picking up dust and debris.

A tornado may consist of a single vortex, but within many stronger tornadoes are smaller intense
whirls called suction vortices that orbit the center of the larger tornado circulation.The tornadoes in
this latter category are called multiple-vortex tornadoes.

Because of the tremendous pressure gradient associated with a strong tornado, maximum winds can
sometimes exceed 480 kilometers (300 miles) per hour.

The Development of Tornadoes

Tornadoes form in association with severe thunderstorms that produce high winds, heavy
(sometimes torrential) rainfall, and often damaging hail. Although hail may or may not precede a
tornado, the portion of the thunderstorm adjacent to large hail is often the area where strong
tornadoes are most likely to occur. Although meteorologists are still not sure what triggers tornado
formation, it is apparent that they are the product of the interaction between strong updrafts in a
thunderstorm and the winds in the troposphere.

Tornadoes can form in any situation that produces severe weather, including cold fronts, squall lines,
and tropical cyclones (hurricanes). Usually the most intense tornadoes are those that form in
association with supercells.

An important precondition linked to tornado formation in severe thunderstorms is the development

of a mesocyclone. A mesocyclone is a vertical cylinder of rotating air, typically about 3 to 10
kilometers (2 to 6 miles) across that develops in the updraft of a severe thunderstorm. The
formation of this large vortex often precedes tornado formation by 30 minutes or so.

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Mesocyclone formation depends on the presence of vertical wind shear. Moving upward from the
surface, winds change direction from southerly to westerly, and the wind speed increases. The speed
wind shear (that is, stronger winds aloft and weaker winds near the surface) produces a rolling
motion about a horizontal axis. If conditions are right, strong updrafts in the storm tilt the
horizontally rotating air to a nearly vertical alignment. This produces the initial rotation within the
cloud interior.

At first the mesocyclone is wider, shorter, and rotating more slowly than will be the case in later
stages. Subsequently, the mesocyclone is stretched vertically and narrowed horizontally, causing
wind speeds to accelerate in an inward vortex. Next, the narrowing column of rotating air stretches
downward until a portion of the cloud protrudes below the cloud base to produce a very dark,
slowly rotating wall cloud. Finally, a slender and rapidly spinning vortex emerges from the base of
the wall cloud to form a funnel cloud. If the funnel cloud makes contact with the surface, it is then
classified as a tornado.

The formation of a mesocyclone does not necessarily mean that tornado formation will follow. Only
about half of all mesocyclones produce tornadoes. The reason for this is not understood. Because
this is the case, forecasters cannot determine in advance which mesocyclones will spawn tornadoes.

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Distribution of Tornadoes
Severe thunderstorms—and hence tornadoes—are most often spawned along the cold front or
squall line of a mid-latitude cyclone or in association with supercell thunderstorms. Throughout the
spring, air masses associated with midlatitude cyclones are most likely to have greatly contrasting
conditions. Continental polar air from Canada may still be very cold and dry, whereas maritime
tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico is warm, humid, and unstable. The greater the contrast, the
more intense the storm tends to be.

These two contrasting air masses are most likely to meet in the central United States because there
is no significant natural barrier separating the center of the country from the arctic or the Gulf of
Mexico. Consequently, this region generates more tornadoes than any other part of the country or,
in fact, the world. An average of nearly 1300 tornadoes were reported annually in the United States
between 2000 and 2010.

More than 40 percent of all tornadoes take place during the spring. Fall and winter, by contrast,
together account for only 19 percent . In late January and February, when the incidence of
tornadoes begins to increase, the center of maximum frequency lies over the central Gulf states.
During March this center moves eastward, to the southeastern Atlantic states, with tornado
frequency reaching its peak in April. During May and June the center of maximum frequency moves
through the southern Great Plains and then to the Northern Plains and Great Lakes area. This drift is
due to the increasing penetration of warm, moist air while contrasting cool, dry air still surges in
from the north and northwest. Thus, when the Gulf states are substantially under the influence of
warm air after May, there is no cold-air intrusion to speak of, and tornado frequency drops. Such is
the case across the country after June. Winter cooling permits fewer and fewer encounters between
warm and cold air masses, and tornado frequency returns to its lowest level by December.

Characteristics of a Tornado
The average tornado has a diameter between 150 and 600 meters (500 to 2000 feet), travels across
the landscape at approximately 45 kilometers (30 miles) per hour, and cuts a path about 26
kilometers (16 miles) long. Because many tornadoes occur slightly ahead of a cold front, in the zone
of southwest winds, most move toward the northeast.

Of the hundreds of tornadoes reported in the United States each year, more than half are
comparatively weak and short lived. Most of these small tornadoes have life times of three minutes
or less and paths that seldom exceed 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) in length and 100 meters (330 feet) in
width. Typical wind speeds are on the order of 150 kilometers (90 miles) per hour or less. On the
other end of the tornado spectrum are the infrequent and often long-lived violent tornadoes.
Although large tornadoes constitute only a small percentage of the total reported, their effects are
often devastating. Such tornadoes may exist for periods in excess of three hours and produce an
essentially continuous damage path more than 150 kilometers (90 miles) long and perhaps 1
kilometer (0.6 mile) or more wide. Maximum winds range beyond 480 kilometers (300 miles) per
hour.

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Q23. Compare the Koppen and Trewartha’s classification

of world climates.

Similarities – (Trewartha used Koppen classification & modified it)

1) Empirical elements in both.
2) Similar objectives – trying to achieve universal classification.
3) Temperature & precipitation used by both.
4) Similar types of letter combinations.
5) Lesser use of complicated formulae & direct use of temperature & precipitation data instead
of derived data.
6) Many details are similar e.g. tropical climates.
7) B type climate based upon temperature & precipitation.
Differences –
1) Trewartha classification incorporates causal phenomena i.e. Empirical & genetic
classification.
2) Trewartha, in general has used (lesser formulae + lesser sub-climatic group) so simpler.
3) Koppen recognize As type of climate while Trewartha has not, Trewartha initially did not
recognize Am type but later he did.
4) Demarcation of boundaries of B type, different formulae was used by both.
5) Koppen divided Temperate climate into 2 types C & D, Taiga was a part of D type. Trewartha
modified temperature climate & sub-divided them into C,D,E, and Taiga as a separate
category.
Q24. Examine critically the drawbacks of Koppen’s
Classification of climates. Explain how Thornthwaite
attempted to overcome Koppen’s limitations.
There are, of course, certain drawbacks from which Koppen’s classification scheme suffers. Despite the
fact that the author himself revised and modified his system several times, he always felt it to be
imperfect.

Koppen based his classification on the mean monthly values of temperature and precipitation. By these
statistics the most potent factor of precipitation can only be estimated, rather than measured
accurately. This makes comparison from one locality to another rather difficult. Further, Koppen did not
take into account such weather elements as winds, precipitation intensity, amount of cloudiness, and
daily temperature extremes only for the sake of making his classification generalized and simple.

Another major drawback is that it is empirical and, therefore, is based on facts and observations.
The causative factors of climate have been totally ignored. Thus, the air masses, which form the very
basis of modern climatology, could not find any place in Koppen's classification.

Lastly, the letter symbols used by Koppen in his climatic classification provide an international
shorthand describing climatic regions that are rather difficult to characterize in words. At first the
classification.scheme may look a bit difficult, but its close examination reveals that it is based on
certain critical values with which all geography students soon become familiar.

Improvements by Thornthwaite - Discussed in the class.

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Q25. Identify the major drivers of climate change

according to the recent fifth assessment report of IPCC.
Human activities have changed and continue to change the Earth’s surface and atmospheric
composition. Some of these changes have a direct or indirect impact on the energy balance of the
Earth and are thus drivers of climate change. Radiative forcing (RF) is a measure of the net change in
the energy balance of the Earth system in response to some external perturbation.

According to IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, the following are the major drivers of recent climate
change-

Radiative Forcing (RF) from Greenhouse Gases

Human activity leads to change in the atmospheric composition either directly (via emissions of
gases or particles) or indirectly (via atmospheric chemistry). Anthropogenic emissions have driven
the changes in well-mixed greenhouse gas (WMGHG) concentrations during the Industrial Era.

Over the last 15 years, CO2 has been the dominant contributor to the increase in RF from the
WMGHGs, with RF of CO2 having an average growth rate slightly less than 0.3 W m–2 per decade.

After a decade of near stability, the recent increase of CH4 concentration led to an enhanced RF
compared to AR4 by 2% to 0.48 [0.43 to 0.53] W m–2. It is very likely that the RF from CH4 is now
larger than that of all halocarbons combined.

Atmospheric N2O has increased by 6% since AR4, causing an RF of 0.17 [0.14 to 0.20] W m –2. N2O
concentrations continue to rise while those of dichlorodifluoromethane (CF2Cl2, CFC-12), the third
largest WMGHG contributor to RF for several decades, are decreasing due to phaseout of emissions
of this chemical under the Montreal Protocol. Since AR4, N2O has overtaken CFC-12 to become the
third largest WMGHG contributor to RF. The RF from halocarbons is very similar to the value in AR4,
with a reduced RF from CFCs but increases in many of their replacements. Four of the halocarbons
(trichlorofluoromethane (CFCl3, CFC-11), CFC-12, trichlorotrifluoroethane (CF2ClCFCl2, CFC-113) and
chlorodifluoromethane (CHF2Cl, HCFC-22) account for 85% of the total halocarbon RF.

The short-lived GHGs ozone (O3) and stratospheric water vapour also contribute to anthropogenic
forcing. Observations indicate that O3 likely increased at many undisturbed (background) locations
through the 1990s. These increases have continued mainly over Asia (though observations cover a
limited area) and flattened over Europe during the last decade. There is strong evidence that
tropospheric O3 also has a detrimental impact on vegetation physiology, and therefore on its CO2
uptake.

Radiative Forcing (RF) from Anthropogenic Aerosols

Anthropogenic aerosols are responsible for an RF of climate through multiple processes which can
be grouped into two types: aerosol–radiation interactions (ari) and aerosol–cloud interactions (aci).

Despite the large uncertainty ranges on aerosol forcing, there is a high confidence that aerosols have
offset a substantial portion of GHG forcing. Aerosol–cloud interactions can influence the character of
individual storms, but evidence for a systematic aerosol effect on storm or precipitation intensity is
more limited and ambiguous.

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Radiative Forcing (RF) from Land Surface Changes and Contrails

There is robust evidence that anthropogenic land use changes such as deforestation have increased
the land surface albedo, which leads to an RF of –0.15 [–0.25 to –0.05] W m–2.

Furthermore, land use change causes other modifications that are not radiative but impact the
surface temperature, including modifications in the surface roughness, latent heat flux, river runoff
and irrigation. These are more uncertain and they are difficult to quantify, but they tend to offset
the impact of albedo changes at the global scale.

Land use change, and in particular deforestation, also has significant impacts on WMGHG
concentrations. It contributes to the corresponding RF associated with CO2 emissions or
concentration changes.

Radiative Forcing (RF) from Natural Drivers of Climate Change

Solar and volcanic forcings are the two dominant natural contributors to global climate change
during the Industrial Era. Satellite observations of total solar irradiance (TSI) changes since 1978
show quasi-periodic cyclical variation with a period of roughly 11 years. The recent solar minimum
appears to have been unusually low and long-lasting and several projections indicate lower TSI for
the forthcoming decades.

Changes in solar activity affect the cosmic ray flux impinging upon the Earth’s atmosphere, which has
been hypothesized to affect climate through changes in cloudiness. Cosmic rays enhance aerosol
nucleation and thus may affect cloud condensation nuclei production in the free troposphere, but
the effect is too weak to have any climatic influence during a solar cycle or over the last century.

The RF of stratospheric volcanic aerosols is now well understood and there is a large RF for a few
years after major volcanic eruptions. Although volcanic eruptions inject both mineral particles and
sulphate aerosol precursors into the atmosphere, it is the latter, because of their small size and long
lifetimes, that are responsible for RF important for climate. The emissions of CO2 from volcanic
eruptions are at least 100 times smaller than anthropogenic emissions, and inconsequential for
climate on century time scales.

Q26. Discuss the projected impact of recent climate

change on the Climate extremes.
According to IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, recent analyses of extreme events reveal number of
interesting information. It is very likely that the number of cold days and nights has decreased and
the number of warm days and nights has increased on the global scale between 1951 and 2010.
Globally, there is medium confidence that the length and frequency of warm spells, including heat
waves, has increased since the middle of the 20th century, mostly owing to lack of data or studies in
Africa and South America. However, it is likely that heat wave frequency has increased over this
period in large parts of Europe, Asia and Australia.

It is likely that since about 1950 the number of heavy precipitation events over land has increased in
more regions than it has decreased. Confidence is highest for North America and Europe where
there have been likely increases in either the frequency or intensity of heavy precipitation with some

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seasonal and regional variations. It is very likely that there have been trends towards heavier
precipitation events in central North America.

There is low confidence in a global-scale observed trend in drought or dryness (lack of rainfall),
owing to lack of direct observations, dependencies of inferred trends on the index choice and
geographical inconsistencies in the trends. However, this masks important regional changes and, for
example, the frequency and intensity of drought have likely increased in the Mediterranean and
West Africa and likely decreased in central North America and northwest Australia since 1950.

There is high confidence for droughts during the last millennium of greater magnitude and longer
duration than those observed since the beginning of the 20th century in many regions. There is
medium confidence that more megadroughts occurred in monsoon Asia and wetter conditions
prevailed in arid Central Asia and the South American monsoon region during the Little Ice Age
(1450–1850) compared to the Medieval Climate Anomaly (950–1250).

Confidence remains low for long-term (centennial) changes in tropical cyclone activity, after
accounting for past changes in observing capabilities. However, for the years since the 1970s, it is
virtually certain that the frequency and intensity of storms in the North Atlantic have increased
although the reasons for this increase are debated. There is low confidence of large-scale trends in
storminess over the last century and there is still insufficient evidence to determine whether robust
trends exist in small-scale severe weather events such as hail or thunderstorms.

With high confidence, floods larger than recorded since the 20th century occurred during the past
five centuries in northern and central Europe, the western Mediterranean region and eastern Asia.
There is medium confidence that in the Near East, India and central North America, modern large
floods are comparable or surpass historical floods in magnitude and/or frequency.

Q27. “Urban climates present an ideal opportunity to study

the impact of humans on climate of a place.” Illustrate.
Cities concentrate people and their activities in small areas, thereby providing excellent
opportunities to examine cultured modifications of climate. Although atmospheric pollution, which
normally attains greater densities over cities, has received a large share of popular attention in
recent years, it is not the only factor influencing city climates. Urban areas also differ from their rural
counterparts in surface materials, surface shapes, and heat and moisture sources. In turn these
affect radiation, visibility, temperature, wind, humidity, cloudiness, and precipitation. Table 17.1
summarizes the influence of urban environments on a number of climatic elements.

Concentrations of pollutants in the air above a city create an urban aerosol, which attenuates
insolation, especially when the sun angle is low as is the case at high latitudes and in winter. The
aerosol is best developed (that is, at its worst) during condition? of stable air and calms or light
winds. In comparison with open rural areas, the annual total direct Solar radiation in the heart of
large industrial cities may be decreased by 15 to 30 percent. Insolation has been observed to vary
during the week, being greatest on Sundays, When industrial activity and traffic are at a minimum.
The urban aerosol is so what selective, for it reduces the proportion of ultraviolet radiation more

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than the longer wave lengths. It reduces the number of bright sunshine hours as well as the
horizontal visibility.

In spite of the diminished insolation, the center of the typical metropolis constitutes a "heat island"
that has a shape and size related to urban morphology, buildings, and industries and that results
largely from urban heat generation and storage. Temperatures normally are highest near the city
center and decline gradually toward the suburbs, beyond which there is a steep downward
temperature gradient at the rural margin (see Fig. 17.1). The differences are greater at night than by

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day. Although heat islands tend to be larger and more intense over large urban areas, the relation is
not direct. Spacing of buildings and both kind and amount of activity influence heat island
development.

Owing to the blanketing effect of pollutants on the radiation budget, diurnal ranges of temperature
are less in urban areas than over the countryside. In view of the importance of vertical temperature
lapse rates to atmospheric stability it is significant that night-time inversions tend to be weaker over
cities, where the heat island generates modest convection. To the lee of cities, an urban heat plume
at several meters above the surface may intensify rural inversions.

The roughness of the city surface increases frictional drag and turbulence. Gustiness and erratic flow
of wind through the maze of urban canyons are well known to the city dweller, although gusts are
more likely to reach their maximum speeds in the open countryside. Except under conditions of low
regional wind speeds the mean wind speed within the city is lower than in the surrounding rural
environment. When night-time winds are light, the speeds in the central city tend to be higher than
in the country. Under nocturnal inversions the stable rural air inhibits surface flow, and calms are
more frequent, whereas the relative instability of city air promotes turbulence, and stronger winds
from above reach the surface more often.

A strong heat island generates its own circulation system. The in-flow of cooler rural air toward the
rising air over the city is generally weaker than

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might be expected, however, and is best developed on relatively calm, clear nights. Smoke plumes of
residential areas have been observed to point toward a city center. Instrumental observations from
towers and balloons have confirmed upward movement of air above urban heat islands.

The tendency of air to rise above the heat island is a possible explanation of greater cloudiness over
cities and may account in part for greater precipitation, for cities are good sources of condensation
and ice nuclei. One of the problems in urban precipitation studies is the difficulty of finding
unpolluted rural areas with which to make experimental comparisons. A small number of ice nuclei
injected into supercooled clouds might enhance rainfall, but a massive addition of condensation
nuclei to air before it reaches its saturation temperature and produces warm clouds should lead to
formation of many small droplets and inhibit rainfall. The net effect of the urban aerosol on
precipitation over the city and to the leeward is not clearly understood. It depends on the kind and
number of nuclei emitted by urban sources, natural nuclei, relative humidity, thermal lapse rates,
and mechanical turbulence. Although climatological evidence is sparse, it may be that the incidence
of hail is relatively greater over cities owing to convective activity. The proportion of precipitation in
the form of snow appears to be less over urban centers, presumably because of higher temperatures
associated with the heat island, and when it falls its effect on the surface albedo is rapidly modified
by snow removal operations and Urban dust.

The potential effects of the urban aerosol and heat island suggest processes leading to increased
precipitation downwind from a city. Although conclusive results for a large number of cities under
different conditions are lacking, specific studies appear to support a modification hypothesis. The
Metropolitan Meteorological Experiment (METROMEX) was initiated at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1971
as a cooperative project of several research organizations to investigate urban influences. Its findings
include: greater convective activity, more thunderstorms, denser concentrations of condensation
nuclei, 10 to 30 percent more precipitation, and a greater incidence of hail along storm paths to the
lee of the urban area than over adjacent rural land.

The mean relative humidity in city air is usually a few percent lower than in the surrounding country,
especially at night and in summer when the heat island is well developed. Rural-urban differences in
specific humidity are much more complex. Urban surfaces promote rapid runoff of precipitation,
whereas vegetation and soil in the country retain moisture for evaporation over a longer period. On
the other hand, the difference in availability of water vapor is offset to some extent by the many
combustion sources in the city. During periods of light winds, tall buildings may inhibit the flow of air
at ground level and thus reduce the upward diffusion of moist air. The net effect of all factors in a
given city is to produce specific humidity values that reflect influences of urban form and function.

Q28(i). Write short note on Hydroclimatology.

Hydroclimatology is the study of the influence of climate upon the waters of the land. It includes
hydrometeorology as well as the surface and near surface water processes of evaporation, runoff,
groundwater recharge, and interception. The total hydrologic cycle, then, is the basis for a discussion
of hydroclimatology.
The water budget equation based on conservation of mass is given as:
P = R + ET +U + SS + Sg + I

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where P is precipitation, R is streamflow, ET is evapotranspiration, U is subsurface underflow, SS is

the change in soil moisture, Sg the change in groundwater storage, and I is interception. When the
equation is evaluated using annual mean data, the changes in groundwater storage, soil moisture
and subsurface underflow are assumed to be zero; and if the interception is sufficiently small, all
four terms may be deleted. Although the components of the total budget are easy to list,
quantification of each of the components over various time scales is always difficult, and sometimes
impossible to measure or to estimate correctly.

The components of the water budget exhibit spatial and temporal patterns over the surface of the
Earth in response to various climatic forcing functions and surficial constraints, e.g. components of
atmospheric general circulation, atmospheric stability and moisture, radiation, topography, surface
albedo, and surface water. As any one component changes, so does one or more component of the
hydrologic budget.

Q28(ii). Explain the major techniques of cloud seeding.

Artificial precipitation involves the joining together of microscopic cloud particles so that they may
grow in size and ultimately fall to the ground by their own weight. Several techniques have been
used for the purpose.

 Droping dry ice on cloud. Many a time the dry-ice technique succeeded in releasing
precipitation from certain special types of clouds.

 Soon after the above discovery another technique was found out of artificial precipitation. It
was found that at temperatures below -5° Celsius silver iodide could also be used for cloud
seeding. The fine powder of silver iodide acts as nuclei which produce ice crystals. Silver
iodide smoke is introduced into suitable clouds by aeroplanes or by the use of explosive
rockets or balloons. Even from a series of burners placed on the ground a continuous silver
iodide smoke screen can be sent up to the clouds for their seeding. The special characteristic
of silver iodide is that when it is heated to a very high temperature, it converts into vapour.
After cooling the vapour produces tiny crystals of 0.01 to 0.01 micron diameter. When such
crystals are introduced into the supercooled clouds, the entire cloud is immediately
converted into ice-clouds. Acetone, a highly inflammable chemical is used for burning the
silver iodide solution. However, it is to be noted that its use for artificial precipitation is
effective only in such clouds as have potentialities for precipitation in natural way.

 Another technique of inducing artificial precipitation is based on Bowen’s Coalescence

Theory, his process relies upon Ludlam’s (1951) Double Sweep Theory, and is applicable to
warm clouds. By this method water droplets of about 50 micron diameter are sprayed into
the lower layers of deep clouds so that they may grow by sweeping up microscopic cloud
particles during their upward and downward movements.

 Still another technique for getting the release of precipitation from non-precipitating clouds
is the injection of finely ground salt. These particles act as hygroscopic nuclei. Since these

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nuclei are always present in adequate number, this technique simply attempts to increase
the proportion of large nuclei to stimulate raindrop production in a cloud.

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