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FOG

CAUSES
By Cooling
By Evaporation

RADIATION FOG
RADIATION FOG IS CAUSED BY THE GROUND COOLING BY RADIATION AND SLOW MOVING AIR IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND COOLED BY CONDUCTION TO BELOW ITS DEW POINT COOLING. GENERALLY BEGINS AT ABOUT 1400 HOURS LOCAL AND UNDER CLEAR SKIES CONTINUES UNTIL ABOUT AN HOUR AFTER DAWN ON THE FOLLOWING DAY.

FACTOR AFFECTING RADIATION FOG

Clear skies: Clear skies at night allow terrestrial radiation to escape whenever cloud inhibits cooling because the terrestrial radiation is radiated back to the ground, conversely the presence of cloud by day can cause a delay in the clearance of fog due to reduced insulation. High relative humidity: If the relative humidity of the air is high little cooling is required to reach the dew point therefore radiation fog is likely, however if the air is quite dry the temperature fall at night might be insufficient for the air to become saturated.

Contd.
Long cooling period: The cooling period must be long enough for the temperature to fall below due point. Light wind: For fog to form a light wind is needed to mix the air near the ground, complete calm will result in heavy dew instead fog, if the wind is stronger than about 8 kts, the turbulence will spread the cooling from the surface throughout a greater depth of air the surface air temperature will not fall to below its dew point.

ADVECTION FOG
Advection fog is also caused by air being cooled to below its dew point but in this case the cooling is brought about by moist air flowing over a cold surface that has a temperature below the dew point of the air mass. Advection fog cannot persist if the warmer air heats the surface to a temperature greater than the dew point , which is why the favored surfaces are the sea and snow covered or frozen ground . Overland advection fog is not common except in coastal regions but it can occur when a mild spell follows prolonged frost or substantial snow fall although advection fog overland is sometimes dispersed by solar heating the land being warmed to a temperature higher than the airmass dew point.

HILL FOG
The term hill fog can be used to describe cloud which is converging high ground. It is common and often widespread in moist stable conditions. In unstable conditions it can occur with cumulus cloud but tends to be very patchy with large fluctuations in visibility. Hill fog can be very dangerous and great care should be taken when flying conditions which are likely to produce cloud on hills. It disperses when surface heating lifts the cloud base or drier air is advected.

FRONTAL FOG

Air through which rain has been falling for some hours become very nearly saturated and if it is then raised by the action of turbulence low stratus cloud is formed in usual way. The lowest cloud near warm fronts are produced in this manner and they may be very low indeed producing hill fog on ground which rises only 100 ft , or even less above the surrounding country.

STEAM FOG
Sea smoke or steam fog may occur when very cold air blows over a relatively warm sea surface, generally in Polar Regions. A somewhat similar phenomenon is the steaming of rivers and lakes in cold weather. Evaporation takes place from the water surface into the air mass which is so cold that it cannot contain all the water vapor, some of which, therefore, condenses to form a thick fog. It is often transitory or patchy because of the steep lapse rate of temperature between the water surface and the cold air which causes sufficient convection to disperse the fog vertically. It then appears to resemble rising smoke.

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QUESTIONS