GEOB 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Hot Air Balloon, Lifted Condensation Level, Fluid Parcel

• School: UBC
• Department: Geographical Biogeosciences
• Course: GEOB 102
• Professor: Nina Hewitt

Document Summary

Warm air holds more vapour than cold air. Air with a specific humidity is saturated (dried) at 10 degrees celsius. Water vapor in the air --> that includes a relative and specific humidity. Condensation nuclei: when condensation occurs around nuclei --> moisture droplets. A cooling process so that vapor will condense --> any process that lifts air up in the atmosphere (cool air goes up, capacity to hold moisture will also decrease) Atmospheric lifting mechanisms --> there are 4 main lifting processes: Convective lifting: same as convection heat transfer, where there is increased buoyancy due to convective heating, where hot air rises and there is more buoyancy in the air parcel. Convergent lifting: where convection happens at the sub solar point and converges towards a certain point (e. g. itcz) Wind is forced to rise above the mountains as it cannot go through. A situation in which a topographic barrier (could be a cliff, ice cap) forces winds upwards.