Air Masses

Air Masses

Warm air rises and cool air sinks. In a hot air balloon, a heater heats the air inside the balloon. When the weight of the warm air plus the balloon is less than the weight of the cooler air outside the balloon, the balloon will rise. Air masses work on the same principles, rising and falling when they confront an obstacle, such as another air mass.

Why do these air balloons rise?

Multiple Choice

Which air is less dense? (Which air will rise)

• Warm Air

• Cool Air

What is an Air Mass?

An air mass is a batch of air that has nearly the same temperature and humidity (Figure below). An air mass acquires these characteristics above an area of land or water known as its source region. When the air mass sits over a region for several days or longer, it picks up the distinct temperature and humidity characteristics of that region.

Subject | Subject

Some text here about the topic of discussion

Multiple Choice

The same air mass will have the same characteristics including

• pressure and temperature

• temperature and dewpoint

• temperature and humidity

• humidity and x-rays

Multiple Choice

What is a source region?

• The area which the air mass is found

• the characteristics an air mass acquires, such as temperature and humidity based on where the air mass forms.

• where the air mass is headed.

Air masses form over a large area; they can be 1,600 km (1,000 miles) across and several kilometers thick. Air masses form primarily in high pressure zones, most commonly in polar and tropical regions. Temperate zones are ordinarily too unstable for air masses to form. Instead, air masses move across temperate zones, so the middle latitudes are prone to having interesting weather.

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Air mass formation

What does an air mass with the symbol cP mean? The symbol cP is an air mass with a continental polar source region that is colder than the region it is now moving over.

Multiple Choice

Air masses most likely form in

• Tropical and polar regions

• tropical and temperate regions

• polar and temperate regions

• polar regions only

Match

Match the following

• Forms over Continent

• Forms over ocean

• Forms over cold polar region

• Forms over hot tropical region

c

m

P

T

• c

• m

• P

• T

Air Mass Movement

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. So the temperature and humidity of a particular location depends partly on the characteristics of the air mass that sits over it.

Multiple Choice

How are air masses moved?

• by the temperatures around them

• by the humidity of the air mass

• based on the temperature of the air mass

• by high level winds

Multiple Choice

The temperature and humidity of a location depend partially on

• the winds that are located in the area

• the temperature and the humidity of the air mass that currently sits over the area

• the air mass that has passed and not currently over the area

Draw

Label the air masses below with the correct symbol cP , mP, cT , or mT

Drag and Drop

Sort the information to the correct type of air mass

Continental Tropical (cT)​ ​

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Continental Polar (cP) ​ ​

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Maritime Tropical (mT) ​

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Maritime Polar (mP) ​

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Drag these tiles and drop them in the correct blank above

dry and warm

dry and cold

wet and warm

wet and cold

Match

Match the following

• maritime (m)

• continental (c)

• polar (P)

• tropical (T)

forms over water: wet

forms over land: dry

forms over polar regions; Cold

forms over tropical regions; warm

• forms over water: wet

• forms over land: dry

• forms over polar regions; Cold

• forms over tropical regions; warm