Describe the Characteristics of the Following Winds I. Prevailing Winds Ii. Seasonal Winds Iii. Cyclones Iv. Local Winds in Terms of Their Origin/Source, Features and Their Effects on the Climate.
Wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure created, in large part, by the unequal heating of the earth's surface by the sun. Air moves from a region of higher pressure to one of lower pressure and this movement is wind. Any difference in pressure will cause wind, but the greater the difference the stronger the wind.
The direction that wind takes is influenced by the rotation of the earth. On a non-rotating earth wind would move in a straight path from a high- to a low-pressure area. It is deflected from this path—to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern—by the turning of the earth on its axis.
Prevailing winds are winds that blow predominantly from a single general direction over a particular point on the Earth's surface. The dominant winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest speed over a particular point on the Earth's surface. A region's prevailing and dominant winds are often affected by global patterns of movement in the Earth's atmosphere. In general, easterly flow exists at low and high latitudes globally. In the mid-latitudes, westerly winds are the rule and their strength is at the mercy of the polar cyclone. In areas where winds tend to be light, the sea breeze/land breeze cycle is the most important to the prevailing wind; in areas which have variable terrain, mountain and valley breezes dominate the wind pattern. Highly elevated surfaces can induce a thermal low, which then augments the environmental wind flow.
As part of the Hadley cell circulation, surface air flows toward the equator while the flow aloft is towards the poles. A low-pressure area of calm, light variable winds near the equator is known as the doldrums, equatorial trough, intertropical front, or the Intertropical Convergence Zone. When located within a monsoon region, this zone of low pressure and wind convergence is also known as the monsoon trough. Around 30° in both hemispheres air begins to descend toward the surface in
The direction that wind takes is influenced by the rotation of the earth. On a non-rotating earth wind would move in a straight path from a high- to a low-pressure area. It is deflected from this path—to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern—by the turning of the earth on its axis.
Prevailing winds are winds that blow predominantly from a single general direction over a particular point on the Earth's surface. The dominant winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest speed over a particular point on the Earth's surface. A region's prevailing and dominant winds are often affected by global patterns of movement in the Earth's atmosphere. In general, easterly flow exists at low and high latitudes globally. In the mid-latitudes, westerly winds are the rule and their strength is at the mercy of the polar cyclone. In areas where winds tend to be light, the sea breeze/land breeze cycle is the most important to the prevailing wind; in areas which have variable terrain, mountain and valley breezes dominate the wind pattern. Highly elevated surfaces can induce a thermal low, which then augments the environmental wind flow.
As part of the Hadley cell circulation, surface air flows toward the equator while the flow aloft is towards the poles. A low-pressure area of calm, light variable winds near the equator is known as the doldrums, equatorial trough, intertropical front, or the Intertropical Convergence Zone. When located within a monsoon region, this zone of low pressure and wind convergence is also known as the monsoon trough. Around 30° in both hemispheres air begins to descend toward the surface in