What are four characteristics of stable air?
Explanation: characteristics of stable air: stratiform clouds, continuous precipitation, smooth air, poor visibility. A and B are incorrect because of the following characteristics of unstable air: cumulus clouds, showery precipitation, turbulence, good visibility.
What is a characteristic of stable air quizlet?
What is a characteristic of stable air? Stratiform clouds. Explanation: Stable air masses are calm; stratiform clouds are smooth and they do not build vertically like cumulus clouds.
What is considered stable air?
Stable air means that the weather is likely to be calm. It may rain or snow slowly and steadily, it may be sunny, but the weather will not change quickly.
Which of the following is a characteristic of a stable air mass?
Stable air masses are also characterized by smooth, undisturbed air. This quality can be seen mainly by pilots or air travelers. People flying through stable air masses will not experience violent turbulence or disturbances as they would in unstable air masses.
What makes air stable or unstable?
The atmosphere is said to be absolutely stable if the environmental lapse rate is less than the moist adiabatic lapse rate. This means that a rising air parcel will always cool at a faster rate than the environment, even after it reaches saturation.
What are characteristics of moist unstable air?
What are characteristics of a moist, unstable air mass? Turbulence and showery precipitation.
What causes stable air?
Warming the air above the ground and/or cooling the air next to the ground will make the atmosphere more stable. The ground and the air above it cool during the night. The atmosphere is usually most stable early in the morning. A temperature inversion represents an extremely stable situation.
How is stable air formed?
If the air parcel is colder than the environment in its new position, it will have higher density and tend to sink back to its original position. In this case, the air is stable because vertical motion is resisted.
What conditions cause a stable air mass?
Due to their static nature, stable air masses are characterized by certain atmospheric conditions.
- Cloud Cover. Because stable air masses are, by nature, calm and free of violent disturbances, they are often marked by the appearance of stratiform clouds or fog. …
- Smooth Air. …
- Uninterrupted Precipitation. …
- Low Visibility.
Apr 24, 2017
What are the characteristics of stable and unstable air?
A stable atmosphere resists an upward or downward movement. An unstable atmosphere allows an upward or downward disturbance to grow into a vertical (convective) current.
What characteristics indicate unstable air?
Let's examine. Air is considered unstable, in the lowest layers of an air mass when the air is warmer and or more humid than the surrounding air. When this occurs the air will rise, as that air parcel is warmer than the air surrounding it. In an unstable environment, the weather can change suddenly and can be violent.
How does stable air differ from unstable air?
Stable air resists upward movement, whereas unstable air does not. Clouds formed when stable air is forced to rise are generally thin and precipitation, if any, is moderate or light. Conversely, when unstable air rises, clouds are often towering and precipitation can be heavy.
Is stable air turbulent?
People flying through stable air masses will not experience violent turbulence or disturbances as they would in unstable air masses. The undisturbed air is free to flow over the wing optimally and is not interrupted.