What are the characteristics of an air mass source region?

What are the characteristics of an air mass source region?

Where an air mass receives it’s characteristics of temperature and humidity is called the source region. Air masses are slowly pushed along by high-level winds, when an air mass moves over a new region, it shares its temperature and humidity with that region.

What is the relationship between air masses and their source regions?

Air masses form over large surfaces with uniform temperatures and humidity, called source regions. Low wind speeds let air remain stationary long enough to take on the features of the source region, such as heat or cold.

What are the source region of an air mass?

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 are the four source regions for air masses?

Air masses are commonly classified according to four basic source regions with respect to latitude. These are Polar (cold), Arctic (very cold), Equatorial (warm and very moist), and Tropical (warm).

What are the four characteristics An air mass can have?

Experts classify air masses based on temperature and humidity. Air masses can be further categorized based on whether they occur over water or land. The 4 types of air masses that impact North America most commonly are maritime tropical (mT), continental tropical (cT), maritime polar (mP), and continental polar (cP).

What is the best source region for an air mass quizlet?

A good source region for an air mass would be: generally flat areas of uniform composition with light surface winds. The origin of cP and cA air masses that enter the United States is: Northern Canada and Alaska.

Where do air masses get their characteristics?

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 are the characteristics of source region?

Source Regions 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.

What are the characteristics of different air masses?

• Continental air masses are characterized by dry air near the surface while maritime air masses are moist.
• Polar air masses are characterized by cold air near the surface while tropical air masses are warm or hot. Arctic air masses are extremely cold.

How are air masses classified according to latitude?

The four source regions where air masses form according to latitude are the Equatorial (E), Tropical (T), Polar (P), and Arctic (A) regions. Air masses are also classified according to the type of surface underlying it, which can be continental (c) or maritime (m). Continental Arctic (cA) Air Masses are characterized by very cold & dry weather.

Which is the main source region for polar air masses?

The main source regions are the high pressure belts in the sub tropics (giving rise to tropical air masses) and around the poles (the source for polar air masses). Source Region establishes heat and moisture equilibrium with the overlying air mass.

When does an air mass acquire its characteristics?

When the air remains over a homogenous area for a sufficiently longer time, it acquires the characteristics of the area. The homogenous regions can be the vast ocean surface or vast plains and plateaus. The air with distinctive characteristics in terms of temperature and humidity is called an air mass.

What kind of air masses are found in North America?

Broadly, the air masses are classified into polar and tropical air masses. Both the polar and the continental air masses can be either of maritime or continental types. Source regions of these air masses are the Arctic basin, northern North America, Eurasia and Antarctica. These air masses are characterized by dry, cold and stable conditions.