Geography Study Guide

Changes in air pressure are not solely related to altitude. At Earths surface, sm
all but important variations in pressure are related
to the intensity of insolation, the general movement of global circulation, and
local humidity and precipitation.
The causes of horizontal variation in air pressure are grouped into two types: t
hermal (determined by temperature) and dynamic
(related to motion of the atmosphere).
THERMAL: One of the basic laws of gases is that the pressure and density of a gi
ven gas vary inversely with temperature. Thus, during the day, as Earths surface
heats the air in contact with it, the air expands in volume and decreases in den
sity. Such air has a tendency to rise as its density decreases. When the warmed
air rises, there is less air near the surface, with a consequent decrease in sur
face pressure. The equator is an area where such low pressure occurs regularly.
In an area with cold air, there is an increase in density and a decrease in volu
me. This causes the air to sink and pressure to increase. The poles are areas wh
ere such high pressures occur regularly. Thus, the constant low pressure in the
equatorial zone and the high pressure at the poles are thermally induced.
Pressure does not increase in a regular fashion poleward from the equator. Inste
ad, there are regions of high pressure in the subtropics and regions of low pres
sure in the subpolar regions.
The DYNAMIC causes of these zones, or belts, of high and low pressure are more c
omplex than the thermal causes.
As air rises steadily at the equator, it moves toward the poles. Earths rotation,
however, causes the poleward-flowing air to drift to the east. In fact, by the
time it is over the subtropical regions, the air is flowing from west to east. T
his bending of the flow as it moves poleward impedes the northward movement and
causes the air to pile up over the subtropics, which results in increased pressu
re at Earths surface there. With high pressure over the polar and subtropical reg
ions, dynamically induced areas of low pressure are created between them, in the
subpolar region. As a result, air sinks into and flows from the highs to the lo
ws, where it enters and rises. Thus, both the subtropical and subpolar pressure
regions are dynamically induced.
Two basic types of pressure systems:
A low, or CYCLONE, is an area where air is ASCENDING. As air moves upward away f
rom the surface, it relieves pressure from that surface. In this case, barometer
readings will begin to fall. Winds blow toward the center of a cyclone and can
be said to CONVERGE toward it.
A high, or ATICYCLONE is the opposite. In a high, air is DESCENDING toward the s
urface and thus barometer readings will begin to rise, indicating an increased p
ressure on the surface. The winds of an anticyclone blow away from the center of
high pressure and are said to be DIVERGING. In the case of an anticyclone, the
center of the system serves as the source for divergent wind circulation.
ISOBARS are lines drawn on maps to connect places of equal pressure. When the is
obars appear close together, they portray a significant difference in pressure b
etween places, hence a strong PRESSURE GRADIENT. When the isobars are far apart,
a weak pressure gradient is indicated.
WIND is the horizontal movement of air in response to differences in pressure. W
inds are the means by which the atmosphere
attempts to balance the uneven distribution of pressure over Earths surface. On a
verage, locations below 38 latitude receive more radiant energy than they lose, w
hereas locations poleward of 38 lose more than they gain. Our global wind system
transports energy poleward to help maintain an energy balance. The global wind s
ystem also gives rise to the ocean currents, which are another significant facto
r in equalizing the energy imbalance. Thus, without winds and their associated o
cean currents, the equatorial regions would get hotter and the polar regions col
der through time. Besides serving a vital function in the advectional (horizonta
l) transport of heat energy, winds also transport water vapor from the air above
bodies of water, where it has evaporated, to land surfaces, where it condenses
and precipitates. This allows greater precipitation over land surfaces than coul
d otherwise occur. In addition, winds exert influence on the rate of evaporation
itself.
Winds always blow, from high to low.
Anything moving horizontally appears to be deflected to the right of the directi
on in which it is traveling in the Northern
Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. This apparent deflection
is termed the Coriolis effect. The degree
of deflection, or curvature, is a function of the speed of the object in motion
and the latitudinal location of the object. The higher
the latitude, the greater will be the CORIOLIS effect. In fact, not only does th
e Coriolis effect decrease at lower latitudes, but it does not exist at the equa
tor. Also, the faster the object is moving, the greater will be the apparent def
lection, and the greater the distance something must travel, the greater will be
the Coriolis effect.
Above Earths surface, FRICTIONAL drag is of little consequence to wind developmen
t. At this level, the wind starts down the pressure gradient and turns 90 in resp
onse to the Coriolis effect. At this point, the pressure gradient is balanced by
the Coriolis effect, and the wind, termed a geostrophic wind, flows parallel to
the isobars.
The GEOSTROPIC WIND is the theoretical wind that would result from an exact bala
nce between the Coriolis effect and the pressure gradient force. This condition
is called geostrophic balance.
However, at or NEAR Earths surface (up to about 1000 m above the surface), FRICTI
ONAL drag is important because it reduces the wind speed. A reduced wind speed i
n turn reduces the Coriolis effect, but the pressure gradient is not affected. W
ith the pressure gradient and Coriolis effect no longer in balance, the wind doe
s not flow between the isobars like its upper-level counterpart. Instead, a surf
ace wind flows obliquely (about a 30 angle) across the isobars toward an area of
low pressure.
WINDS are named after their SOURCE. Thus, a wind that comes out of the northeast
is called a northeast wind. One coming from the south, even though going toward
the north, is called a south (or southerly) wind. WINDWARD refers to the direct
ion from which the wind blows. The side of something that faces the direction fr
om which the wind is coming is called the windward side. LEEWARD, on the other h
and, means the direction toward which the wind is blowing.
A high pressure cell, ANTICYCLONE, in the Northern Hemisphere in which the air i
s moving from the center in all directions
down pressure gradients. As it moves, the air will be deflected to the right, no
matter which direction it was originally going.
Therefore, the wind moving out of an anticyclone in the Northern Hemisphere will
move from the center of high pressure in a
clockwise spiral .
CYCLONE is a system of winds rotating INWARD to an area of LOW atmospheric press
ure, with a counterclockwise (northern hemisphere) or clockwise (southern hemisp
here) circulation; a depression. Or a large-scale, atmospheric wind-and-pressure
system characterized by low pressure at its center and by circular wind motion,
counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, clockwise in the Southern Hemisphe
re.
There are seven components of the GENERAL CIRCULATION:
1. ITCZ
2. TRADE WINDS
3. SUBTROPICAL HIGHS
4. WESTERLIES
5. POLAR FRONT (Subpolar lows)
6. POLAR EASTERLIES
7. POLAR HIGHS
HADLEY is a pattern of atmospheric circulation in which warm air rises near the
equator, cools as it travels poleward at high altitude, sinks as cold air, and w
arms as it travels equatorward.
Centered approximately over the equator in our model is a belt of LOW PRESSURE,
or a TROUGH. Because this is the region on Earth of greatest annual heating, we
can conclude that the low pressure of this area, the EQUATORIAL LOW (equatorial
trough), is determined primarily by thermal factors, which cause the air to rise
.
The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ or DOLDRUMS. , is a belt of low pre
ssure which circles the Earth near the equator where the trade winds of the Nort
hern and Southern Hemispheres come together. It has warm surface conditions, low
pressure with high rainfall, instability, andrising air in the Hadley Cell. Alm
ost all the rising air of the tropics ascends in the updrafts that occur in thun
derstorms in the ITCZ and these updrafts pump an enormous amount of sensible and
latent heat of condensation in the upper troposphere, where much of it spreads
polewards.
North and south of the equatorial low and centered on the so-called HORSE LATITU
DES (no wind in the center, horizontal air movement and divergence begin towards
the edges), to about 30N and 30S, are cells of relatively SEMI PERMANENT HIGH PRE
SSURE.
These are the SUBTROPICAL HIGHS, which are the result of DYNAMIC factors related
to the sinking of convectional cells initiated at the equatorial low. These AN
TICYCLONES develop from the descending of the Hadley Cells. The air circulation
pattern around an STH anticyclone: diverging CLOCKWISE in the NORTHERN HEMISPHER
E and COUNTER CLOCKWISE in the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. They are usually elongated e
ast-west and tend to be centered in the eastern portion of an ocean basin. Their
latitudinal position vary from time to time, shifting a few degrees poleward in
the summer and a few degrees equatorward in the winter. The winds are concentra
ted in the northern and southern sides.
Some SUBTROPICAL HIGHS are very persistant: AZORES HIGH in the North Atlantic, H
AWAIIAN HIGH in the North Pacific. A permanent feature of the STHs is a subsiste
nce temperature inversion that covers wide areas of the subtropics. The weather
is nearly always clear, warm and calm.
Diverging from the equatorward sides of the subtropic highs is the major wind sy
stem of the tropics - TRADE WINDS. They cover Earth between about latitude 25N t
o 25S. They are predominantly EASTERLY WINDS, so they generally blow from east t
o west. They are reliable on both SPEED and DIRECTION. The winds originate as wa
rming, drying winds capable of holding an enormeous amount of moisture. As they
blow across the tropical oceans, they evaporate vast quantites of moisture and t
herefore have a troumendous potential for storminess and precipitation. They do
not release the moisture unless forced by a topographic barrier ( high altitude
land.)
WESTERLIES are the SEMIPERMANENT belt of prevailing westerly winds in the MID-LA
TITUDES of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. These winds flow basically fr
om est to east around the world in the latitudinal zone between 30N and 60N, an
d 30S and 60S.
JET STREAMS are a narrow, variable band of very strong, predominantly westerly a
ir currents encircling the globe several miles above the earth. There are typica
lly two or three jet streams in each of the northern and southern hemispheres. M
oreover, there are two CORES of High-Speed Winds in each Hempisphere: Polar Fron
t Jet Stream and the Subtropical Jet Stream. the belt of the WESTERLIES can be t
hought of as a meandering river of air moving generally from West to East in the
Mid-Latitudes with the T STREAMS as its FAST MOVING CORES.
The POLAR FRONT JET STREAM, 9 to 12 km high, is not centered in the band of the
westerlies but is displaced POLEWARD. It is a feature of the upper troposphere
located above the area of greatest horizontal temperature gradient, cold just po
leward and warm just equatorward. It shifts its latitudinal position and has co
nsiderable influence on the path of the WESTERLIES.
Rossby Wave is a large, slow-moving, planetary-scale wave (long waves) generate
d in the troposphere by ocean-land temperature contrasts and topographic forcing
(winds flowing over mountains), and affected by the Coriolis effect due to the
earth's rotation. They seperate cold polar air from warmer tropical air.
THE SUBTROPICAL JET STREAM is usually located in HIGH ALTITUDES, just below the
Troposphere over the Poleward margin of the subsiding air of the STH. When it me
ets with POLAR JET STREAM, they merge and produce a broad belt of HIGH-SPEED WIN
DS in the Upper Troposhpere.
In the polar regions are HIGH PRESSURE systems called the POLAR HIGHS. The extre
mely cold temperatures and consequent sinking of the dense polar air in those re
gions create the higher pressures found there.
POLAR HIGHS are HIGH PRESSURE CELLS over the POLAR region. The ANTARTIC HIGH, wh
ich forms over an extensive, HIGH ELEVATION, very cold continent is STRONG, PERS
ISTENT, and ALMOST PERMANENT feature above the Antartic. The ARCTIC HIGH is much
less pronounced and more TRANSITORY, particularly in the winter. It tends to fo
rm in Northern Continental areas rather than the ARCTIC Ocean. Air movement is t
ypically ANTICYCLONIC. AIR from ABOVE SINKS DOWN into the HIGH and DIVERGES HORI
ZONTALLY in the SURFACE; CLOCKWISE in the NORTHERN HEMISPHERE, COUNTERCLOCKWISE
in the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE, forming the POLAR EASTERLIES.
POLAR EASTERLIES occupy most of the area between the POLAR HIGHS and about 60 LA
TITUDE. From EAST to WEST, generally, DRY but VARIABLE.
When the cold air flowing out of the polar regions and the warmer air moving in
the path of the westerlies meet, they do so
like two warring armies: One does not absorb the other. Instead, the denser, hea
vier cold air pushes the warm air upward, forcing it to rise rapidly. The line a
long which these two great wind systems battle is appropriately known as the POL
AR FRONT. The weather that results from the meeting of the cold polar air and th
e warmer air from the subtropics can be very STORMY.
Poleward of the subtropical highs in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres
are large belts of LOW PRESSURE that extend through the upper-middle latitudes.
Pressure decreases through these subpolar lows until about 65 latitude. Again, dy
namic factors play a role in the existence of subpolar lows.
JANUARY: Because continents cool more quickly than the oceans, their temperature
s will be lower in winter than those of the surrounding seas. in the middle lati
tudes of the Northern Hemisphere this variation leads to the development of cell
s of HIGH PRESSURE over the land areas. In contrast, the SUBPOLAR LOWS develop o
ver the oceans because they are comparatively warmer. Over eastern Asia, there i
s a strongly developed ANTICYCLONE during the WINTER months that is known as the
Siberian High. Its equivalent in North America, known as the CANADIAN High, is
not nearly so well developed because the North American landmass is considerably
smaller than the Eurasian continent. In addition, two low pressure centers deve
lop: one in the North Atlantic, called the ICELANDIC LOW, and the other in the N
orth Pacific, called the ALEUTIAN LOW. The air in them has relatively lower pres
sure than either the subtropical or the polar high systems. Consequently, air mo
ves toward these low pressure areas from both north and south.
JULY: The anticyclone over the North Pole is greatly weakened during the summer
months in the Northern Hemisphere, primarily
because of the lengthy (24-hour days) heating of the oceans and landmasses in th
at region. In Asia, a low pressure system develops, but it is divided into two s
eparate cells by the Himalayas. The low pressure cell over northwest India is so
strong that it combines with the equatorial trough. In the Pacific, this subtro
pical high is termed the Pacific High; this system of pressure plays an importan
t role in moderating the temperatures of the West Coast of the United States. In
the Atlantic Ocean, the corresponding cell of high pressure is known as the Ber
muda High to North Americans and as the Azores High to Europeans and West Africa
ns. As we have already mentioned, the equatorial trough of low pressure moves no
rth in July, following the migration of the suns vertical rays, and the subtropic
al highs of the Southern Hemisphere lie slightly north of their January location
s.
MONSOON is a seasonal prevailing wind in the region of South and Southeast Asia,
a general SEA-TO-LAND movement called OFF-SHORE FLOW blowing from the southwest
between May and September (SUMMER) and bringing rain (the wet monsoon ), or LAN
D-TO-SEA movement or OFFSHORE FLOW from the northeast between October and April-
WINTER(the dry monsoon). Caused by THERMALLY induced pressure differences.
LAND BREEZE: a breeze blowing toward the sea from the land, especially at night,
owing to the relative warmth of the sea.
SEA BREEZE: a breeze blowing toward the land from the sea, especially during the
day owing to the relative warmth of the land.
KATABATIC WINDS: blowing downhill through having become denser with cooling, eci
ally at night when heat is lost from the earth's surface. GREENLAND and ANTARTIC
A. Even though the air is warmed ADIABATICALLY as it descends, it is usually col
der than the air it displaces in its downslope flow.
FOEHN WIND: a hot southerly wind on the northern slopes of the Alps.
CHINOOK WIND: a warm dry wind that blows down the east side of the Rocky Mountai
ns at the end of winter.
SANTA ANA WINDS: are strong, fast, extremely dry down-slope winds that originate
inland (desert) and affect coastal Southern California and northern Baja Califo
rnia. They develop when a cell of HIGH PRESSURE persists over the interior of t
he US for several days. The winds diverges clockwise, out of the high, bringing
dry, warm northerly or easterly winds to the coast.
MOUNTAIN and VALLEY BREEZES form through a process similar to sea and land breez
es. During the day, the sun heats up valley air rapidly. Convection causes it to
rise, causing a warm, upslope wind. At night, the process is reversed.
El Nio and La Nia are opposite phases of what is known as the El Nio-Southern Oscil
lation (ENSO) cycle. The ENSO cycle is a scientific term that describes the fluc
tuations in temperature between the ocean and atmosphere in the east-central Equ
atorial Pacific (approximately between the International Date Line and 120 degre
es West).
El Nio and La Nia episodes typically last nine to 12 months, but some prolonged ev
ents may last for years. They often begin to form between June and August, reach
peak strength between December and April, and then decay between May and July o
f the following year. While their periodicity can be quite irregular, El Nio and
La Nia events occur about every three to five years.
The term El Nio refers to the large-scale ocean-atmosphere climate interaction li
nked to a periodic warming in sea surface temperatures across the central and ea
st-central Equatorial Pacific. Those include warmer-than-average temperatures ov
er western and central Canada, and over the western and northern United States.
Wetter-than-average conditions are likely over portions of the U.S. Gulf Coast a
nd Florida, while drier-than-average conditions can be expected in the Ohio Vall
ey and the Pacific Northwest.
La Nia episodes represent periods of below-average sea surface temperatures acros
s the east-central Equatorial Pacific. During a La Nia year, winter temperatures
are warmer than normal in the Southeast and cooler than normal in the Northwest.