Write explanatory notes on each of the following (a) Land and sea breezes (b) Temperature inversion (c) Convectional rainfall
Explanation
(a) Land And Sca Freezes: Breeze exchange between the land and the sea is attributed to differential heating of land and sea. These local wind are common in areas very close to the sea. During the day, the land is heated much faster than the sea and it is cooler than the sea at night. As the land is heated during the day, it causes the air to rise, creating a low pressure situation. Air therefore blows from the sea to replace the heated and rising air on the land thereby resulting in lower temperature and relatively cool air on the land. This is sea breeze which blows from sea to land. At night, the land becomes cooler that-. the sea having lost much of its temperature at a much faster rate than the sea. Thus, there is a high pressure situation on the land and a relatively low pressure situation on the sea. Hence a land breeze blows from the land to the sea. (b) Temperati.re inversion: This is the opposite of lapse rate and it means a rise in temperature with increasing altitude. It is not in all cases that temperature decreases with altitude. Temperature could be lower at the sea-level especially in valleys almost enclosed by mountains than at heights above such valley E.g temperature inversion is found in European Alps where cold and heavy al: collects in valleys which are almost totally enclosed by mountains (c) Convectional rainfall: This is the main type of rainfall in the humid tropics. The heat generated by the sun is aL;le to make the surroundings including the sea and ocean to be hot. Because the air is hot, it is able to absorb very large amount of moisture. The warm and moist air is forced to rise rapidly by convection current. When the current rises very high and reaches the cold layers of the atmosphere which make it conducive for the moisture contained in tha currents to condense, rainfall immediately fo: ows the condensation of the moisture. This type of rain formed by this process is called convectional rainfall.