Meteorology
5/10/16
Identify different air mass types, their origins and their characteristics
An air mass is a large body of air that has uniform weather characteristics. Temperature and humidity play a key part in determining what kind of air mass will appear. I will talk about categories of air masses, where they form, and what characteristics are unique to each kind of air mass.
Air masses are either continental or maritime. Continental is on land and maritime is on water. Maritime occurs in a moist climate, and continental appears in a drier area. The air masses get defined even further; they are then stamped with a Polar, Tropical or Arctic title on front. Continental Polar (CP) air masses form over Canada and Siberia. …show more content…
Knowing what air mass is which can help you understand where specific weather is coming …show more content…
Understanding key terms is crucial when trying to master a subject in college. Throughout the semester we have came across countless vocabulary words that help us understand how meteorology works. Some key words that helped me master the subject were climate, weather and meteorology. I will be going over the difference between climate, weather, and meteorology.
Climate is referred to as, the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period of time. Weather is defined as the state of the atmosphere at that specific time and location. Meteorology is the study of the atmosphere and its motions, especially on the shorter time scale known as “weather”. Meteorologists study the similarities and differences of climate and weather to help understand the bigger picture, which is meteorology. The study of weather helps us understand why our small-scale atmosphere is affected by interactions among the earth’s land and water surfaces. Climate helps meteorologists understand how the environment and atmosphere change over time, and how climate and weather affect one another over a larger area. By knowing what weather fronts will react with certain types of climate, you can better predict what weather is coming. Weather is the daily atmosphere on a small scale, and climate is typical weather trends over a long period of time covering a large geographical