katabatic wind, also called downslope wind, or gravity wind, wind that blows down a slope because of gravity. It occurs at night, when the highlands radiate heat and are cooled. This process is most pronounced in calm air because winds mix the air and prevent cold pockets from forming.
What is adiabatic and katabatic wind?
Anabatic Winds are upslope winds driven by warmer surface temperatures on a mountain slope than the surrounding air column. Katabatic winds are downslope winds created when the mountain surface is colder than the surrounding air and creates a down slope wind.
Where is katabatic located?
Antarctica
Katabatic winds are most commonly found blowing out from the large and elevated ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland. The buildup of high density cold air over the ice sheets and the elevation of the ice sheets brings into play enormous gravitational energy.
What causes katabatic wind?
Katabatic winds occur when air is cooled from below over sloping terrain. Such cooling causes a shallow blanket of air adjacent to the surface to become colder and therefore heavier than the atmosphere above, thus forming a thermally distinct layer that exchanges little energy with the overlying air.
What is katabatic flow in geography?
Definition. A cold flow of air travelling down an orographic slope (eg. hill or mountain).
Are katabatic winds warm?
Though generally cold, katabatic winds can also be warm or hot. This is because as the air moves downhill and is compressed it warms (the katabatic wind would start out cold but become warmer as it moves downhill). A chinook (foehn) wind is a warm dry down slope wind.
What is Anabatic in geography?
anabatic wind, also called upslope wind, local air current that blows up a hill or mountain slope facing the Sun. During the day, the Sun heats such a slope (and the air over it) faster than it does the adjacent atmosphere over a valley or a plain at the same altitude.
What is the fern effect?
What is the foehn effect? In simple terms, this is a change from wet and cold conditions one side of a mountain, to warmer and drier conditions on the other (leeward) side.
Are katabatic winds dry?
Cold and usually dry katabatic winds, like the Bora, result from the downslope gravity flow of cold, dense air. This effect is enhanced during winter over snow covered surfaces and after dry, clear nights. These types of winds can reach velocities of up to 4 meters per second.
How do katabatic winds move?
Definition: Sounding almost like acrobatic winds, katabatic winds do bear a resemblance to tumbling, since they are essentially winds that flow downhill. Also known as fall winds, katabatic winds are usually caused by gravity pulling higher density air downslope to lower density air.
How does katabatic wind cause frost?
Cold and usually dry katabatic winds, like the Bora, result from the downslope gravity flow of cold, dense air. The gentler katabatic flows of hill slopes produce frost hollows. Mountain breezes are part of a local wind system.
What is Chinook and foehn?
The wind off of the Rocky Mountains in North America is a foehn wind that is called a Chinook wind. The wind is a warm, dry wind that blows down the eastern slope of most mountains. Foehn winds are formed from warmer and drier air that flows from aloft or above. This wind has the same force of some hurricane winds.
What does katabatic wind mean?
A katabatic wind (named from the Greek word κατάβασις katabasis, meaning “descending”) is the technical name for a drainage wind, a wind that carries high-density air from a higher elevation down a slope under the force of gravity.
What are katabatic and Anabatic winds?
Anabatic Winds are upslope winds driven by warmer surface temperatures on a mountain slope than the surrounding air column. Katabatic winds are downslope winds created when the mountain surface is colder than the surrounding air and creates a down slope wind.
What causes katabatic winds?
Katabatic winds occur due to movement of high density air from high elevation. down-hill under the gravitational pull. Such winds are also referred to as fallingwinds or gravitydriven winds. Katabatic winds are caused as a result of air movement from the land down the. sea.
