Weather and Air Stability Concepts

This set of flashcards focuses on key vocabulary related to weather and air stability concepts, aiding in understanding essential terms that affect flight and meteorological phenomena.

Adiabatic Cooling

The process in which air temperature decreases due to a decrease in pressure.

adiabatic temerature rate

10 degreas per 1000m

Dry Adiabatic Rate

The rate at which unsaturated air cools, typically 10°C per 1000 meters.

Wet Adiabatic Rate

The rate at which saturated air cools, typically 5°C per 1000 meters.

Orographic Lifting

The process whereby an air mass is forced to rise over a topographic barrier, leading to cooling and condensation.

Frontal Lifting

The process that occurs when warmer, less dense air is forced upward by cooler, denser air colliding to form fronts.

Convergence

The intersection of two air masses that results in upward air movement.

Localized Convective Lifting

The process resulting from unequal surface heating causing pockets of warm air to rise.

Environmental Lapse Rate

The rate at which temperature decreases with an increase in altitude in the atmosphere.

Conditional Instability

A state of atmospheric instability where the top layer is unstable (warmer) and the lower layer is stable (cooler).

stable air is resistrs

vertical movement

thermals

parcel of air allwasy wharmer than surrounding air

Hypoxia

A deficiency in the amount of oxygen reaching the tissues; can occur at higher altitudes.