Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 3.1
Time and Space Scale for atmospheric Motion
Name
Time
length
example
General circulation
Weeks to years
1,000 to 40,000 km
Trade winds, Jet stream
Synoptic scale
Days to weeks
100 to 5,000 km
Cyclones, Hurricanes, Typhoons
Mesoscale
Minutes to days
1 to 100 km
Thunderstorms, Land-sea
breezes, Tornadoes
Microscale
Seconds to minutes
Turbulence
<1 km
Warm
air
North Pole
Cold
air
Polar easterlies
We sterlies
60°
Horse latitudes
30°
Trade
winds
30°
Equator
Figure 3.1
General atmospheric circulation, northern hemisphere.
Day
Night
Warm air
Cool air
Sea breeze
Land breeze
Cool air
Warm air
Land
Land
Sea
Sea
Figure 3.2
Sea breeze, day, and land breeze, night.
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