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Temperature Inversions Impact Air Quality

Surface temperature inversions occur when warm air sits above cooler air near the ground, trapping pollutants and impacting air quality. They form most commonly at night as the ground cools faster than the air above it. Conditions like calm winds, clear skies, and long nights promote strong inversions. Inversions are strongest in winter, suppressing pollution mixing and leading to poor air quality. Local wood burning significantly worsens particulate levels during inversion episodes.

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51 views

Temperature Inversions Impact Air Quality

Surface temperature inversions occur when warm air sits above cooler air near the ground, trapping pollutants and impacting air quality. They form most commonly at night as the ground cools faster than the air above it. Conditions like calm winds, clear skies, and long nights promote strong inversions. Inversions are strongest in winter, suppressing pollution mixing and leading to poor air quality. Local wood burning significantly worsens particulate levels during inversion episodes.

Uploaded by

Stania
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Temperature Inversions Impact Air Quality

What are temperature inversions? On most days, the temperature of air in the atmosphere is
cooler the higher up in altitude you go. This is because most of the suns energy is converted to
sensible heat at the ground, which in turn warms the air at the surface. The warm air rises in the
atmosphere, where it expands and cools. Sometimes, however, the temperature of air actually
increases with height. The situation of having warm air on top of cooler air is referred to as a
temperature inversion, because the temperature profile of the atmosphere is "inverted" from its
usual state. There are two types of temperature inversions: surface inversions that occur near the
Earth's surface, and aloft inversions that occur above the ground. Surface inversions are the most
important in the study of air quality.

How do surface temperature inversions form? The most common manner in which surface
inversions form is through the cooling of the air near the ground at night. Once the sun goes
down, the ground loses heat very quickly, and this cools the air that is in contact with the ground.
However, since air is a very poor conductor of heat, the air just above the surface remains warm.
Conditions that favor the development of a strong surface inversion are calm winds, clear skies,
and long nights. Calm winds prevent warmer air above the surface from mixing down to the
ground, and clear skies increase the rate of cooling at the Earth's surface. Long nights allow for
the cooling of the ground to continue over a longer period of time, resulting in a greater
temperature decrease at the surface. Since the nights in the wintertime are much longer than
nights during the summertime, surface inversions are stronger and more common during the
winter months. A strong inversion implies a substantial temperature difference exists between the
cool surface air and the warmer air aloft. During the daylight hours, surface inversions normally
weaken and disappear as the sun warms the Earth's surface. However, under certain
meteorological conditions, such as strong high pressure over the area, these inversions can
persist as long as several days. In addition, local topographical features can enhance the
formation of inversions, especially in valley locations.

How do inversions impact air quality? Surface temperature inversions play a major role in air
quality, especially during the winter when these inversions are the strongest. The warm air above
cooler air acts like a lid, suppressing vertical mixing and trapping the cooler air at the surface. As
pollutants from vehicles, fireplaces, and industry are emitted into the air, the inversion traps these
pollutants near the ground, leading to poor air quality. The strength and duration of the inversion
will control AQI levels near the ground. A strong inversion will confine pollutants to a shallow
vertical layer, leading to high AQI levels, while a weak inversion will lead to lower AQI levels. A
large contributor to poor air quality during the winter is residential wood burning. Wood smoke
contains much higher amounts of particulate pollution than smoke from oil- or gas-fired furnaces.
In some areas of the country, local governments issue burn bans to curtail the use of woodstoves
and fireplaces under certain weather and pollution conditions during the winter.

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