Atsc midterm pt4

how does fog relate to clear sky night

the ground surface radiates heat upward to space, so as the ground loses heat and gets colder, the
ground cools the air above it by contact. if the air is cooled enough, and is high humidiy, then fog
can form. if there is a deep layer of humid air near the ground, it can stop the ground from
cooling but if the humid air cools by radiating heat to space, it can form fog.
how does fog relate to nights with a lot of cloud cover
clouds prevent the ground from cooling rapidly because the clouds are radiating heat back to the
ground so fog does not usually occur under clouds
what are the types of fog
- radiation
- advection
- upslope
- precipitation or frontal
- steam
radiation
- type of fog that forms in clear, nearly calm nights when the ground cools by radiation to space
- the cold ground cools the air that touches the ground
- these types of fog often form as a very shallow fog and get thicker and deeper as the night
progresses
- if it gets deep enough, then IR cooling happens from the fog top instead of the bottom which
makes a very difficult to dissipate thick fog
advection
- a type of fog
- forms when humid air blows over colder surface, causing th ait temperature to decrease to the
dew point temperature
- ex. san francisco fog
- ex. humid air blowing over snowy surface
- often form as thick fog with well defined edges
upslope
- type of fog
- when the wind blows air against a hill slope and the air is pushed upward; the upward air cools
adiabatically 10 degrees celcius for each 1 km that it goes up, when the air rises enough and gets
cold enough, fog forms
- usually on top of mountains
precipitation or frontal
- a type of fog
- formed by adding moisture via evaporation from warm rain drops falling down through
unsaturated (unfoggy) air
- this type of situation also creates fractus clouds which can be reported as fog if the fractus
cloud touches the ground or the mountain
- also forms from waterfalls that produce large amount of spray
steam
- type of fog
- occurs when cold air moves over warm humid surfaces such as unfrozen lakes or oceans during
early winter
- also happens when after a rain storm, the sun comes out and heats wet surfaces like roofs or
farms
obscured
something totally or partially blocks your view of the sky or ground
what are the types of obscurations
- mist
- fog
- volcanic ash
- sand
- haze
- spray
- snow and blowing snow
* also rain sometimes which can obscure landmarks in VFR
describe mist
- type of obscuration
- mist is when small precipitation particles (rain) are gently falling through the air
- visibility is usually greater than 1 km as compared with fog which has lower visibilities
- mist can exist in air having relative humidity
- creates a thin grey coloured partial obscuration
describe smoke
- type of obscuration
- smoke can come from factories, cars, and forest fires
- if you fly through smoke, you can breathe the toxic fumes that enter the aircraft cockpit or
cabin through the ventilation system
describe volcanic ash
- type of obscuration
- super abrasive
- small rocks with sharp edges
- can stay suspended in air
how is volcanic ash a hazard to aircraft
- it can get in the aircraft engine and cause it to fail or seize
- can clog the filters or get in the ventilation system
- can sandblast the windscreen and make it hard to see
- it can add weight to the plane
- can cause St. Elmo's fire on the windscreen
- can get into the jet/turbine engines and melt and resolidfy into glass like coatings that cause the
turbines to break
St. Elmo's fire
when static electric charge builds up on the windscreen and looks like sparks at night
what is a non hazard associated with volcanic ash
- gases they emit, called aerosols, like sulfur dioxide which makes red skies after the sun has set
describe sand
- type of obscuration
- strong winds over deserts and sandy regions can create sand storms called haboobs
- sand particles can stay suspended in the sky and have similar effects as volcanic ash (except the
meting)
how are stand storms/haboobs hazardous to flight
- can affect aircraft that are parked at the airport too
- can reduce visibility
- can cause static charges which can affect navigation systems
describe haze
- type of obscuration
- consists of small liquid drops that form around a pollutant or chemical that attracts water vapor
- the haze particles can grow even when the humidity is as low as 75%
- do not keep growing and stop growing at a certain size determined by humidity, temp, and the
type of chemical
hygroscopic
- means attractive behavior of the chemicals that attract water to create haze
what are small haze particles called
aerosols which include both solid and liquid microscopic parts
aerosol swelling
- when humidty increases above 75% and the small haze particles called aerosols soak up water
and get larger, thus reducing visibility which is a flight hazard
examples of hygroscopic chemicals
salt (from sea spray), sulfates (associated with oil and coal burning), volcanic emissions, nitrates
(combustion pollutant), and from organic chemicals from plants when they live, burn or decay
describe spray
- type of obscuration
- breaking waves cause tiny drops of sea water to be in the atmosphere which settle out very
slowly
- causes poor visibility
- airports close to beaches can experience this type of obscurtion
describe dust
- type of obscuration
- can consist of tiny microscopic solid substances in the atmosphere stirred up
- smaller than sand thus stay in the atmosphere longer because it takes a while to settle out
dust storm
- type of obscuration related to dust
- when fine soil particles are lifted up from winds
snow and blowing snow
- type of obscuration
- has different levels of intensity which is based on its visibility through the snow: heavy and
moderate
heavy snow
- obscuration type related to snow
- visibility of less than 0.4km or .25 miles
moderate snow
- obscuration related to snow
- range of visibility from 0.4 to 0.8 km (0.25-.5miles)