topic 20 Air Mass

What is source region?

Parts of the Earth's surface where the air can stagnate and gradually gain properties of the
underlying surface are called source regions. The main source regions are the high
pressure belts in the subtropics (giving rise to tropical air masses) and around the poles
(the source for polar air masses).
What are the characteristics of an air mass source region?

Where an air mass receives it's characteristics of temperature and humidity is called the
source region. Air masses are slowly pushed along by high-level winds, when an air
mass moves over a new region, it shares its temperature and humidity with that region.
What is the source region for continental arctic?

Continental polar (cP) or continental arctic (cA) air masses are cold, dry, and stable.
These air masses originate over northern Canada and Alaska as a result of radiational
cooling. They move southward, east of Rockies into the Plains, then eastward