A+ SOCIAL SCIENCE

Chapter: 2
IN SEARCH OF THE SOURCE OF WIND
Topic 1:- ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE & IT'S RELATION WITH TEMPERATURE, ALTITUDE
AND HUMIDITY
Atmospheric pressure
 The weight exerted by the air on the surface of the earth
 Measuring instrument: Mercury Barometer: Units: Millibar (mb) & hectopascal (hpa).
 RELATION - Inversely proportional to temperature, altitude and humidity
 When TEMPERATURE increases air expands. So atmospheric pressure decreases
 When ALTITUDE increases air becomes rare. So atmospheric pressure decreases
 Atmospheric pressure decreases at the rate of 1mb per an altitude of 10 meters
HUMIDITY
 It is the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere. Water vapour is lighter than air, Hence it
ascends.
 So when HUMIDITY increases atmospheric pressure decreases.
Isobars
 it is an imaginary line joining places having same atmospheric pressure

Topic 2 :- GLOBAL PRESSURE BELTS , CAUSES OF FORMATION AND FEATURES

Global pressure belts
 Atmospheric pressure is uniform between certain latitudes. It is called pressure belts.
Causes of the distribution of pressure belts
 Variations in the amount of solar energy ; Rotation of the earth.

PRESSURE LATITUDINAL REASON FOR THE FORMATION OF

BELTS POSITION PRESSURE BELTS
Equatorial 0- 5° N & S Sun’s rays fall vertically throughout the year.
Low pressure belt The heated air expands and rises up
Sub tropical 30° N & 30° S The hot air ascending from equatorial low pressure belt cools
High Pressure belt gradually and subsides at the sub tropical zone
Sub Polar low 60° N & 60°S The air is thrown up due to the rotation of the Earth
pressure belt
Polar high 90° N & 90°S Severe cold experiences throughout the year.
pressure The air remains chilled
DOLDRUM
 Winds are very feeble in Equatorial low pressure belt. So it is known as doldrum (the zone with no
wind)
Topic 3 :- WINDS AND THE FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE IT'S SPEED AND DIRECTION
WIND
 The horizontal movement of the air from high pressure zone to low pressure
FACTORS AFFECTING THE SPEED AND DIRECTION OF THE WIN
a) PRESSURE GRADIENT FORCE: -Where pressure difference is more on adjacent consecutive
points their experiences steeper pressure gradient force. So the wind blows with high speed in that
direction.
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b) CORIOLIS FORCE: The freely moving bodies get deflated to the right in the northern hemisphere
and to the left in the southern hemisphere due to rotation.
 Ferrel's law: The law formulated by Admiral Ferrel based on Coriolis force.
 According to the law Wind deflects it's direction to the right in the northern hemisphere and
to the left in the southern hemisphere
c) FRICTION: The wind blows at high speed over a flat surface where friction is low
PLANETARY WINDS AND ITS FEATURES:
PLANETARY WINDS
 The winds developed between the global pressure belts
NAME OF NAME OF THE BLOWING FEATURES
THE PRESSURE BELTS DIRECTION
WIND
 Called as North east trade
From sub tropical high North east direction in winds in Northern hemisphere
Trade Winds

pressure belts (30°) to Northern hemisphere  South east trade winds

equatorial low South east in Southern inSouthern hemisphere.
pressure belt (0º) hemisphere.  Inter tropical convergent
zone(ITCZ)- the zone were the
trade winds converge
 Stronger in the southern
From Sub tropical South west direction in hemisphere due to the vast
Westerlies

high pressure (30°) to Northern Hemisphere expanse of oceans.

sub polar low pressure North west in Southern o Known as
belts (60°) hemisphere  Roaring Forties (40°)
 Furious fifties (50°) and
 shrieking Sixties (60°)
 Playing a significant role in
easterlies

From polar high North east in Northern determining the climate of

Polar

pressure (90°) to hemisphere North America, Russia and

sub polar low South east in Southern Eastern Europe
pressure belts (60°) hemisphere
PERIODIC WINDS - TYPES AND EXAMPLES
Periodic winds
 Wind which blows to a small locality due to local pressure differences
Types of periodic winds
 Local periodic winds (2) Other local winds
 Local periodic winds: Examples : Monsoon winds,Sea breeze,Land breeze, Mountain breeze,Valley
breeze , etc,.
 Other local winds: Loo, Mango showers, Chinook, Foehn, Harmattan
LOCAL PERIODIC WINDS - CAUSES OF FORMATION
Factors responsible for monsoon winds
 The apparent movement of the sun
 Coriolis force
 Difference in heating

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NAME CAUSES OF FORMATION
 Low pressure forms in the Tropic of Cancer during summer in the
Northern hemisphere.
South west monsoon  High pressure also forms in Southern hemisphere.
winds  When the wind blows from (South) Indian ocean, it deflects it's
direction due to Coriolis effect at the equator and blows as South
West Monsoon
 High pressure forms in the Asian land mass during winter in the
North east monsoon winds Northern hemisphere.
(Retrieval of monsoon)  Wind blows from Asian land mass towards the low pressure area
Indian Ocean
 Land cools faster than the sea during the night.
Land breeze  It creates high pressure over the land.
 The wind blows from land to sea during night
 Land heats up quickly than the sea during day time and form a low
Sea breeze pressure over the land.
 Wind blows from high pressure sea to land during day time
 During the night, air in the mountain region cools due to intense
Mountain breeze cold and form high pressure.
 The cool air blows from the mountain towards the valley during
the night
 During the day time, the air in the valley gets heated up more than
Valley breeze the air on the mountain tops.
 The heated air blows up through the slopes of the valley towards
the mountain during day time
OTHER LOCAL WINDS
NAME FEATURES
Loo  Hot wind blowing from the Rajasthan desert.
 It rises the summer temperature of the north Indian plains
Mango showers  Blows in south India during the summer season.
Kalbaishaki  Blows in north east India (Assam)
 Blows down the eastern slopes of the Rockies mountains in north America.
Chinook  It helps for wheat cultivation in Canada.
 It melts the snow along the eastern slopes of Rockies. So called as snow eater
Foehn  Blows towards the southern valleys of the Alps
Harmattan  Dry wind which blows from sahara desert towards the west Africa
Prepared by:
Muhammed Asfar A [HST-SS]
PPMHSS Kottukkara
Kondotty, Kottukkara

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