Chapter 8: Meteorology

An isobar is a line that joins areas of equal sea level pressure.

Heat is measured in calories, it is described as the amount of energy required to raise 1g of water by 1ºC.

Heat held in the earths surface can be transferred to the atmosphere by radiation, conduction or
convection. These signi cantly contribute to the weather patterns we see.

By day, cloud cover stops incoming insolation from reaching the surface by re ecting it into space. At
night, cloud cover stops heat accumulated during the day from being transferred into higher levels of the
atmosphere.

Latent heat is the energy in calories absorbed or released when water changes from one state to another.
When water changes to a higher energy state (i.e ice melting) it absorbs latent heat energy form the
surrounding atmosphere.

When water transitions from a high energy to a lower energy state (ie. Vapor condensing on your hand /
water freezing into ice on a wing) it releases heat to its surroundings, which is why vapor can burn you.

Total air temperature (TAT) is the sum of the static air temperature and the ram rise caused by friction of
fast-moving air particles against the sensory probe on the outside of an aircraft.

Altimeters are calibrated to ISA pressure gradients, when colder than ISA:

true altitude < altimeter reading

The correction is:

4 feet per ºC deviation from ISA per 1000 feet.

• For example: When making an approach to an aerodrome at mean sea level in

Siberia in January the decision height is 200 ft. What is the true height when the
indicated height is 200 ft if the temperature is -50°C?


4 × (−65) × 0.2 = − 52
200′ − 52 − = 148′ true height when indicating 200' on altimeter. Well below minimums.

Remember, “If temp or pressure below, true is low.” Meaning that if temp/pressure is below the ISA
values, true altitude is lower than indicated.

Pressure error is 27 feet per degree of ISA deviation. Using this knowledge we can solve the following -
remember to always add all altimeter errors together after calculating them, before subtracting/adding error
to indication:

If an aircraft is maintaining FL180 in an area with QNH 983mb and temperature ISA-25, what is its true
altitude?

= 1013.2 − 983 = 30.2mb

Pressure error
30.2 × 27 = 815′ below indicated.

Temperature error = 4 × (−25) × 18 = 1800′ below indicated.

total error = 815 + 1800 = 2615′ below FL180 =

TRUE ALTITUDE = 15,385’ at FL180






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Lapse rates describe rates of temperature change with an increase of altitude.

Environmental lapse rate is the standard ISA lapse rate of -2ºC per thousand feet.

Dry adiabatic lapse rate is for unsaturated air, -3ºC per thousand feet.

After air reaches its dew-point, condensation releases latent heat, causing the saturated
adiabatic lapse rate of -1.5ºC per thousand feet to prevail.

Provided there is a lifting action present, cloud base will be determined by the di erence between the
actual temperature and the dew point. In general, moister air results in lower cloud bases.

temp − dewpoint
Cloud base in feet = × 1000

lapse rate

Curriform: brous clouds


Cumuliform: heaped clouds

Stratiform: layered clouds

Nimbus: rain-bearing clouds

These groups are then subdivided with the following pre xes according to the height of their base:

Cirro: high above 16,000-20,000’

Alto: medium above 6500’

No pre x: low level clouds, base below 6500’

If cumulus clouds were present in the morning, you can expect cumulonimbus later in the day.

Radiation fog forms on cloudless nights where the surface loses heat through radiation, the ground will
then be cooler than its surrounding air, if this air is relatively moist, the ground will cool it past its dew
point, forming fog. Light winds aid this process. Radiation fog only appears over land. If there is no wind at
all, dew forms (frost if surface is also subzero).

Advection fog is similar to radiation fog in that it is formed by warm air being on top of a cooler surface,
but advection fog generally refers to air which is pushed into that area. Advection fog can form over sea
and be pushed into land, where it can persist for days.

Frontal fog usually forms in the cold air ahead of an approaching occluded warm front.

Virga is a phenomenon in which rain falls from a cloud but evaporates before reaching the ground, in a
lower, drier and warmer airmass. Virga may indicate a temperature inversion and more importantly
possible wind-shear.

Cumulonimbus clouds are associated with thunderstorms, for the formation of these clouds there must
be a few factors present:

1. Moist air.

2. A trigger for the air to start lifting (convection/turb./frontal/orthographic)

3. Adiabatic cooling of the rising air.

4. ELR > SALR. This provides instability and causes air to keep rising once it has started to do so.

CB clouds have three stages, the developing stage where air starts to move aloft. 

The mature stage where hardcore convective activity is going on inside the clouds, up/downdrafts of
3000’/m+ simultaneously, potential for microbursts, hail, icing and turb.

The decaying stage, which happens after the thunderstorm, where sporadic showers and wind shear may
still occur.

CB should be avoided by at least 10nm and in severe cases, more than 20nm due to the various e ects
detrimental to safety.

Wind direction is given as magnetic when given by a tower (for alignment with RWY) or when relating to
upper winds (for alignment with hi-altitude routes for ight planning).

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 Veering wind: changed direction clockwise (160/10kt -> 190/10kt)

Backing wind: changed direction counter-clockwise.

Buys Ballot’s law states that in the NORTHERN hemisphere, if you stand with your back to the wind, the
low pressure will be to your left.

In the northern hemisphere, wind traveling from a high pressure to a low pressure area will be de ected to
the right by Coriolis force. This force is stronger the further you go from the equator.

Eventually - and usually 2000’ or more aloft - the pressure gradient force will balance with the Coriolis
force. This creates a geostrophic wind, which is a wind that moves parallel to isobars (assuming straight
east to west isobars)

Since isobars are often curved around centers of HI/LO pressure, in reality there is a third force involved -
the centrifugal force. When accounting for this force, a calculated geostrophic wind becomes a Gradient
Wind. 



MUST READ: http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/%28Gh%29/guides/mtr/fw/grad.rxml

Two columns of air with di erent temperature gradients will generate wind aloft, these upper winds will
exist even if the sea level pressure of both columns is the same, because as temperature decreases at
di erent rates, the pressure at certain altitudes will be di erent. Upper winds are a vector sum of these
forces and those of gradient winds.

The direction of a thermal wind is parallel to the isotherms, these winds are found at greater heights.
Closer isotherms create stronger wind, and with your back to this wind, the low temperature will be to your
left in the northern hemisphere. Jetstreams are thermal winds concentrated upon narrow bands where
isotherms are closest, it must be greater than 60kt to classify and are typically 1500NM long, 200NM wide
and 12,000’ deep.

The polar front jetstream is found at 60º latitude, where polar air meets subtropical air. It is the stronger
jetstream, more so when over land in the winter. The intertropical front jetstream is found where
subtropical meets tropical air, roughly at 30º latitude.

The strongest CAT can be found on the ‘cold side’ of any jetstream.

Northern hemisphere: wind weakens and backs.


(shifts CCW with a decrease in height, ie. 180º/30kt at 2000’ and 150º/15kt at the surface.)
Southern hemisphere: wind weakens and veers.

These veering/backing e ects of surface wind are stronger during the night.

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 NOTE:
A huge misconception in most aviation
books is that veer/back relates to the
relative movement, this is WRONG. A wind
cannot ‘back’ with a decrease in height and
simultaneously ‘veer’ with an increase in
height. A ‘backing wind’ will always shift
counter-clockwise with a decrease in
height, so it's obvious that it will shift
clockwise with an increase in height.

For clarity, a wind which blows from 230º at

FL020 and 130º at the surface is always
called a ‘backing wind’… Regardless of
wether you are climbing or descending.

Trade winds are persistent winds which blow from subtropical

high pressure belts towards the equator, from the NE in the
northern hemisphere and SE in the southern hemisphere.

Foehn winds are very interesting, as wind blows up a

mountain, it crosses its dew point and cools at its
SALR as well as losing moisture, on the other side of
the mountain it will descend and warm at its greater
DALR, meaning that after the air passes the mountain,
it will be warmer and drier on the other side.

Low pressure system:

• A low pressure system will typically have more than one airmass within it, such as a warm airmass
incorporated into a cold airmass, surrounded by fronts.

• Surface pressure decreases as you move towards its center.

• Air ow converges at the lower layers, rises at the center and diverges in the upper layers. This
convergence and rising is what gives way to cloud formation and cumuliform as well as the associated
precipitation phenomena.

• Lows have steeper pressure gradients than highs, they move faster and are more short lived than
highs. Tighter isobars create stronger winds.

• In the Northern Hemisphere, wind ows counterclockwise into a low. If a plane is ying toward a low, it
will experience right drift, compensated with right rudder or a left heading correction.

• Depressions can be categorized as frontal, thermal, tropical storm, orthographic depressions.

• Vertical motion causes visibility to be good, as particulates will be carried upwards.

• Frontal weather to be expected.

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 A trough is a V-shaped protrusion of a low pressure system. Air ows into a trough and then rises, giving
way to cloud formation and possibly thunderstorm activity.

When ying from a high to a low, your indicated altitude will be higher than your true altitude.

High pressure system:

• Highs have more spaced isobars, this means weaker or calm winds.

• Air ow converges in the upper layers, ows downwards and diverges at the lower layers.

• They last longer, but move slowly and are calmer, they will have little to no de ned fronts within them.

• Wind circulates clockwise around a high pressure system, in the Northern Hemisphere.

• Clear upper skies, any cloud/precip is dispersed. Winds are light and visibility may be poor at low
levels.


A ridge is a U-shaped extension of a high pressure system, air subsides into it and anti-cyclonic weather
will be found within its vicinity.

A front is a boundary between two air masses, they are most often found in low pressure systems where
two or more air masses can be found. Frontal activity describes the interactions which takes place as one
airmass replaces another.

Frontal depressions develop when two air masses meet, but do not mix together because one is warmer
(and therefore less dense) than the other… like olive oil in water. These depressions are what drive most of
the weather on earth, and can be seen in the diagram below:

Since warm fronts slope upwards, their forward limits are much further than the line depicted on a weather
chart. The cirrus clouds at the tip of the front can be as much as 600nm ahead of the line on the WX chart.

Atmospheric pressure falls as a warm front approaches.

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