What are katabatic and Anabatic winds?
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Asked by: Christopher Rogers
Anabatic Winds are upslope winds driven by warmer surface temperatures on a mountain slope than the surrounding air column. Katabatic winds are downslope winds created when the mountain surface is colder than the surrounding air and creates a down slope wind.
What do you mean by anabatic wind?
anabatic wind, also called upslope wind, local air current that blows up a hill or mountain slope facing the Sun. During the day, the Sun heats such a slope (and the air over it) faster than it does the adjacent atmosphere over a valley or a plain at the same altitude.
What are katabatic winds and where do they occur?
Katabatic winds are most commonly found blowing out from the large and elevated ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland. The buildup of high density cold air over the ice sheets and the elevation of the ice sheets brings into play enormous gravitational energy.
What causes anabatic wind?
Anabatic winds are mainly created by ultraviolet solar radiation heating up the lower regions of an orographic area (i.e. valley walls). Due to its limited heat capacity, the surface heats the air immediately above it by conduction. As the air warms, its volume increases, and hence density and pressure decreases.
What is katabatic wind in meteorology?
Here are just a few examples of local winds: Katabatic winds (from Greek – katabatikos meaning ‘going down’) form when cold air above a plateau, mountain, glacier, or even a hill flows down a slope due to gravity. Katabatic winds are cool, dry and can be strong.
What is the opposite to katabatic winds?
Anabatic winds
These are in many ways the opposite of katabatic winds. They occur in calm weather and during daytime, perhaps where the sun is shining on one side of a valley. This heats the air on the slope, which then rises, often forming cumulus above the top of the ridge as the warm, moist air cools.
Why do katabatic winds occur at night?
katabatic wind, also called downslope wind, or gravity wind, wind that blows down a slope because of gravity. It occurs at night, when the highlands radiate heat and are cooled.
Are katabatic winds warm?
Though generally cold, katabatic winds can also be warm or hot. This is because as the air moves downhill and is compressed it warms (the katabatic wind would start out cold but become warmer as it moves downhill). A chinook (foehn) wind is a warm dry down slope wind.
Why katabatic wind is more intense in winter?
The katabatic winds are most pronounced during winter, when there is no incoming solar radiation, and a large pool of cold air over the interior is formed to feed the katabatic flow.
How fast are katabatic winds?
15 to 20 meters per second
The air flow gets stronger, turning into fast-flowing winds called katabatic winds. These katabatic winds roar toward the coast of Antarctica. Fairly quiet conditions turn instantaneously, with katabatic winds reaching speeds of 15 to 20 meters per second (50 to 66 ft/sec)!
Is katabatic wind warm or cold?
cold air
It is described by Meteorologists as heavy cold air that practically mimics the movement of mountain water as it flows downslope and waterfalls over steep canyons. Depending on the temperature of the air it displaces during its descent, katabatic wind can become violent, reaching speeds up to 100 mph.
What is katabatic wind class 11?
Katabatic wind: During the night, the slopes get cooled and the dense air descends into the valley as the mountain wind. The cool air, of the high plateaus and ice fields draining into the valley is called katabatic wind.
What are the 4 types of winds?
Types of Wind – Planetary, Trade, Westerlies, Periodic & Local Winds.
What are downslope winds?
Downslope Winds occur when warm/dry air descends rapidly down a mountain side. These are common on the east side of the Rocky Mountains, called Chinook Winds. These winds can blow over 40 mph, and can occur in sudden gusts that are even stronger, which can make driving hazardous.
What causes upslope winds?
During the day, the sheath of warm air near the slope serves as a natural chimney. As the warm air rises, it results in an upward flow of air, causing an upslope wind.
What is mountain wind?
Definition of mountain wind
: a breeze of diurnal period depending on the unevenness of land surfaces and blowing down the slope by night. — called also mountain breeze.
What are the local wind?
Local winds are winds that blow over a limited area. Local winds blow between small low and high pressure systems. They are influenced by local geography. Nearness to an ocean, lake, or mountain range can affect local winds.
What is very hot wind called?
Sirocco. A sirocco is a hot desert wind that blows northward from the Sahara toward the Mediterranean coast of Europe. More broadly, it is used for any kind of hot, oppressive wind.
What are the 4 types of winds?
Types of Wind – Planetary, Trade, Westerlies, Periodic & Local Winds.