What is source region of air masses?

Asked by: Devon Dino

Parts of the Earth’s surface where the air can stagnate and gradually gain properties of the underlying surface are called source regions. The main source regions are the high pressure belts in the subtropics (giving rise to tropical air masses) and around the poles (the source for polar air masses).

What is the best source region for an air mass?

large flat areas

An air mass is a large body of air that has similar temperature and moisture properties throughout. The best source regions for air masses are large flat areas where air can be stagnant long enough to take on the characteristics of the surface below.

What is a source region and what is its relationship to an air mass?

A source region is a location where an air mass originates. The longer an air mass remains above its source location, the more likely it is to take on the characteristics of the land below it. Air masses get their properties from spending days to weeks over the same part of the earth.

What is an air mass region?

An air mass is a large body of air with generally uniform temperature and humidity. The area over which an air mass originates is what provides its characteristics. The longer the air mass stays over its source region, the more likely it will acquire the properties of the surface below.

What is one source of air mass movement?

Why do air masses move? Winds and jet streams push them along. Cold air masses tend to move toward the equator. Warm air masses tend to move toward the poles.

What is source region?

Parts of the Earth’s surface where the air can stagnate and gradually gain properties of the underlying surface are called source regions. The main source regions are the high pressure belts in the subtropics (giving rise to tropical air masses) and around the poles (the source for polar air masses).

What is the characteristics of source region?

A source region must have certain temperature and humidity properties that can remain fixed for a substantial length of time to affect air masses above it. Air mass source regions occur only in the high or low latitudes; middle latitudes are too variable.

How do the source regions of polar and tropical air masses differ?

Tropical air masses form in low-latitude areas and are moderately warm. Polar air masses take shape in high-latitude regions and are cold. Equatorial air masses develop near the Equator, and are warm. Air masses are also identified based on whether they form over land or over water.

What causes an air mass to move away from its source region?

As a cold air mass builds, the temperature gradient between the cold air mass and the warmer air outside the air mass will increase. This in turn, increases the upper level winds which in turn helps steer an air mass away from its source region.

Where are the primary air mass source regions in North America?

The polar continental, the maritime tropical, and the maritime polar Pacific are the most influential air masses. Polar continental air reflects the spread of a negative temperature anomaly over much of the continent.

Which are source regions of continental tropical air masses?

The continental Tropical (cT) air mass originates in arid or desert regions in the middle or lower latitudes, principally during the summer season. It is strongly heated in general, but its moisture content is so low that the intense dry convection normally fails to reach the condensation level.

What is one source region of a maritime polar air mass?

The North Pacific Ocean is one source region for maritime polar air masses.