Context

Tropical climates: Annual precipitation is > 2000 mm/year

Key Terms

Dew point temperature: temperature to which an air parcel with a given vapour
pressure must cool for it to become saturated

Saturation point: 100% relative humidity

Relative Humidity: measure of airs moisture content as a percentage of the

moisture content of the same volume of saturated air at the same temperature

Evaporation: conversion of water to water vapour through absorption of latent heat

Two requirements for this to occur:

Latent heat of vaporisation: energy required to allow water molecules to
leave water surface
Vapour pressure deficit/gradient: difference between saturation vapour
pressure and actual vapour pressure
The greater the deficit, the greater the amount of evaporation
When deficit is 0 (i.e. air is saturated) no evaporation occurs

Two requirements for this to occur:

Saturation of air parcel
Presence of condensation nuclei, a surface to condense on

Condensation: conversion of water vapour to water through release of latent heat

Two requirements for this to occur:

Saturation of air parcel
Presence of condensation nuclei, a surface to condense on

Saturation of air parcel

Air must reach saturation point: 100% relative humidity
Degree of saturation of air is measured by relative humidity:
measure of airs moisture content as a percentage of the
moisture content of the same volume of saturated air at the
same temperature
Saturation vapour pressure curve: shows how much moisture air can
hold at specific temperatures
Supersaturation: amount of water vapour present in air parcel
beyond 100% saturation
Warmer air can hold more moisture than colder air, thus unsaturated air
can become saturated by two ways
Reducing the temperature below dew point temperature. Can
occur via:
i. Adiabatic cooling: cooling of air due to expansion of the
air parcel
ii. Diabatic cooling: removal of heat from air parcel
iii. Radioactive cooling: cooling due to contact with cold
Earth surface
Increasing moisture content of air
Presence of condensation nuclei
Needed for water vapour to condense onto
Usually cloud condensation nuclei: particles in air (e.g. dust, volcanic
emissions, sea salt) Hygroscopic:
Theoretically with no condensation nuclei, no condensation tending to absorb
occurs air becomes supersaturated moisture from the
Some condensation nuclei are hyperattractive to water molecules - air.
hygroscopic nuclei

Lapse Rate

Environmental Lapse Rate: rate at which temperatures (of general Larger rate means
environment) falls with increasing altitude air temperature
Variable over time and space cools more rapidly
Affects atmospheric stability with height
Normal Lapse Rate: average rate at which temperatures falls with increasing
altitude, usually 6.5C/km

Atmospheric conditions:
If air is moist AND unstable/strong wind is present: environmental lapse
rate will be lower, 5C/km, in lower atmosphere (below tropopause)
If there is strong surface heating: rate will be greater, 10C/km
Inversions: layers of atmosphere where temperature rises with
increasing altitude. Air parcels rising through inversions encounter ever-
warmer surrounding air and have negative buoyancy. Air in inversions is
thus extremely stable (resists vertical mixing).
Inversions inhibit upward motion of particles, confine pollutants
Haze in cold places
There is clear sky, and light winds
The ground cools faster than atmosphere at night
The lack of wind prevents mixing, creating haze

Atmospheric Instability

Environmental lapse rate is crucial in determining atmospheric stability Absolute

stability
Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate: rate of temperature decrease with altitude for Absolute
a parcel of saturated air rising under adiabatic conditions instability
Always 5C/km because air is cooling at slower rate after dew point Conditional
temperature is reached stability
Air is releasing latent heat as it condenses (the presence of
which warms surrounding air and provides a counterpoint for
falling temperatures) thus decreasing the rate of temperature
drop as altitude increases

Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate: rate of temperature decrease with altitude for a
parcel of dry or unsaturated air rising under adiabatic conditions
Always 10C/km in theory

Air Lifting Mechanisms

Four mechanisms lift air so that condensation and cloud formation occur
Convective Lifting: lifting of air that occurs when a column of air is heated from below, becomes
warmer and less dense than surrounding air, and rises freely through the atmosphere

Process (Strong Surface Heating) Absolute

Solar heating is intense on hot summer afternoons, causing instability instability
Surface temperature irregularities triggers instability when differential Associated with
heating of ground by insolation causes some air parcels to be warmed strong surface
more than surrounding air (give example; air over land vs. water) heating (warm
These air parcels become warm and unstable, and will be buoyed humid climates)
upwards by the process of convective lifting, encouraged by strong Locations:
surface heating which gives steep lapse rates characteristic of equator, tropics
instability.
This is so as the environmental lapse rate is cooling more rapidly than
the rate at which the rising air parcel is cooling (i.e. ELR is lower than
DALR), such that the air parcel is more buoyant than surrounding air
and will continue rising.
If the air parcel can rise above the lifting condensation level (height at
which the relative humidity of an air parcel will reach 100% when it is
cooled by dry adiabatic lifting), cumulonimbus/cumuliform clouds
(clouds with a flat base, rounded top and lumpy shape) will form, which
produce mid-afternoon convectional precipitation of high intensity and
short duration, accompanied by thunder and lightning
The clouds height will be limited as instability caused by strong surface
heating is confined to lower atmospheric levels (first few km)

In summary: Solar heating and irregular surfaces cause irregular heating on ground and some areas
to heat up more than others. These warm, unstable parcels of air are buoyed upward. If they reach
condensation level clouds form The height of clouds produced is limited, as instability of surface
heating is confined to first few km of the atmosphere.

Process (Advection)
A relatively cool air mass moves horizontally over a warmer surface
Air mass is heated up and becomes buoyant

Orographic Lifting: Lifting of air mass that occurs when elevated terrains (mountains) impede air flow
so that the air mass is forced to ascend

Process E.g. northwest

As air ascends a mountain slope, adiabatic cooling encourages Highlands and Lake
condensation that generates clouds and high precipitation (over 5,000 District in UK
mm/year) on the windward slope
Forced ascent of air causes piling up of clouds on windward slopes and
above the summit
When air reaches leeward slope, most moisture has been lost.
Air descends, undergoing adiabatic warming, making condensation and
resulting precipitation less likely.
This can form a rain shadow desert on mountains leeward sides.
Because most moisture is lost as precipitation and cloud on
windward slopes and summits, such that absolute humidity is
lower on leeward slopes
Because air descending leeward slopes is warmed by adiabatic
compression and warming due to rising pressure, clouds begin
to evaporate and the likelihood of precipitation is reduced
Example: warm Chinook wind that blows from Rockies to
prairies of Canada and USA, raises temperature of plains by 20
to 30C in a few hours
 Example of rain shadow desert: Great Basin Desert. USA (cut
off from seas moisture by Sierra Nevada) & Patagonia Desert
of Argentina

In summary: Adiabatic cooling encourages condensation, generating clouds and precipitation on the
windward slope On leeward side, most moisture has been lost, and with further adiabatic heating upon
descending, condensation and precipitation is less likely, and can cause rainshadow deserts

Frontal Lifting: lifting of air that occurs in fronts, transition zones where great temperature differences
occur across relatively short distances

Process
Where there is a front (spatial transition zones where great temperature
differences occur across relatively short distances), air flow along frontal
boundaries develops clouds in two ways:
When cold air advances towards warmer air (a situation termed
a cold front), the denser cold air displaces lighter warmer air
ahead of it, such that the latter rises, cools adiabatically via
expansion and condenses into clouds
When warm air flows towards colder air (a situation termed a
warm front), the warmer air is forced upwards, thus undergoing
adiabatic cooling by expansion to condense into clouds at dew
point temperature

Convergence: horizontal movement towards a common location implying an accumulation of mass

When a low pressure cell is near the surface, winds in the lower atmosphere
tend to converge at the centre of it from all directions