Basic meteorology

Density Altitude
 Pressure altitude corrected for temperature. It relates to aircraft performance, it is the altitude that the
aircraft ‘thinks’ it is at
 Understand performance and density altitude (HHH: High altitude, high temperature, high humidity = High
DA)
 High density altitude, low aircraft performance
 Low density altitude, high aircraft performance
 Check mixture – lean mixture for peak RPM, fly light
 Abort rule, reach 70% of rotation speed at runway midpoint
 Density Altitude in Feet = Pressure Altitude in Feet + (120 times (Outside air temperature minus ISA
Temperature))

Pressure altitude formula:

Field elevation + (1013 minus QNH) times x 30

Icing: 2 necessary conditions

 Visible rain or moisture
 Temperature of less than 0o

Oxygen required
 12,500 – 14,000ft if more than 30 minutes
 Above 14,000ft all times

Hypoxia
 Blue lips, blue fingertips
 Yawning
 Slowed speech
 Mental impairment
 Euphoria

Time of useful consciousness:

 Time between losing oxygen and passing out, time when life-saving is possible
 15,000 ft: 30 minutes
 18,000 ft, 20 – 30 minutes

Monsoons
 Indonesia: Tropical climate
 From Southeast: JU - SEP
 From Northwest: DE - MAR
 ITCZ: Intertropical convergence zone: Area where air masses from the Northern & Southern Hemisphere
meet, a low-pressure area that extends from west to east

Stable vs unstable air

A stable atmosphere resists an upward or downward movement. An unstable atmosphere allows an upward or
downward disturbance to grow into a vertical (convective) current.
Characteristics of stable air:
 Stratiform clouds or fog
 Continuous precipitation
 Smooth air
 Fair to poor visibility depending in haze or smoke
Characteristics of unstable air:
 Cumuliform clouds
 Showery precipitation
 Rough air
 Good visibility except in rain

How are clouds formed?

Clouds form when the invisible water vapor in the air condenses into visible water droplets or ice crystals. For this to
happen, the parcel of air must be saturated. Saturated means that the parcel of air is unable to hold all the water it
contains in vapor form, so it starts to condense into a liquid or solid form.

There are 2 ways to reach saturation:

Process 1: Evaporation: Water content in the air is increased to a point where the air can hold no more. This is
common when the sun heats up a body of water until the air parcels above it can no longer hold the water content
and start to form rain.

Process 2: Cooling: When the air rises and is cooled so that it reaches the dew point. Condensation occurs:

Condensation:
 Air rises and cools
 Process of water vapor cooling to the point that it is no longer gas form and it turns to liquid form
 Water molecules lose energy and start to attract to each other: A process called coalescence, creating water
droplets.
 The temperature that makes this process occur is called the dew point temperature.

Lapse rate
The Lapse Rate is the rate at which temperature changes with height in the Atmosphere. If the lapse rate is positive,
the temperature decreases with height; if negative, the temperature increases with height.
 Saturated air: Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate (SALR)
 Unsaturated air: Dry adiabatic lapse rate (DALR). Once this air reaches the dew point, it becomes saturated
 The Environmental Lapse Rate (ELR) is the actual rate at which the ambient temperature changes with
height.
 The relationship between these 3 lapse rates will determine if the air will have rain, whether it will be stable,
or instable.

Thunderstorms
 Unstable air
 High humidity & moisture
 Trigger/Lifting action

3 Stages of thunderstorm
 Developing stage
 Mature stage
 Dissipating stage

Environmental lapse rate

Standard atmosphere:
 Temperature decreases 2 degrees per 1000 feet
 Pressure decreases 30 feet per hectopascal

Tropopause at equator: 16 to 18 kilometers

Land and sea breeze
 Air blows from sea in the day when land is warmer
 Air blows from land at night where water is warmer

Coriolis force:
 Air moves from West to East because earth rotates on its own axis from west to east
 Zero at the equator

Air masses
 Indonesia is an area of maritime equatorial air
 Maritime tropical from North East and South West
 Continental Tropical air from the south (Australia)

Wake turbulence
 Prolonged by light winds and stable atmosphere

High vs low pressure systems

Low pressure systems:
 Clouds and precipitation
High pressure systems
 Dry weather

Mountain flying
 Definition: Elevation change exceeding 3000 feet within 10 nautical miles
 Risks
 False horizon
 Controlled flight into terrain: CFIT
 Avoid the leeward, fly windward (Downdrafts can be 1000 to 2000 feet)
 Cross ridges and mountain peaks max 45 degrees 1000 feet above, 2000 feet if winds are stronger
 Do not get trapped, don’t fly middle, always give yourself space so that you can do a 180 degree turn
 Always have an escape route

Mountain meteorology
 Always read the winds
 Mountain peaks can be covered by clouds, rotor and cap clouds indicate turbulence
 Mountain wave, when wind speeds are above 25 knots, like water flowing over rocks
 Winds through a mountain pass, like the venturi effect

Volcano
 Symptoms:
 Sulfuric smell – smells like rotten eggs
 Ash clouds
 Haze
 Smog
 Risks
 Engine failure
 Blocked pitot
 Suffocation/death

Stable vs unstable air

  Clouds:
 Stable: Layered clouds or fog
 Unstable: Puffy clouds with extensive vertical development
 Precipitation:
 Stable: Widespread rain or snow that is slow moving
 Unstable: Heavy rain showers that are brief
 Visibility:
 Stable: Restricted visibility for long periods
 Unstable: Good visibility outside areas of rain

Wake turbulence:
 Stable air and no wind prolongs wake turbulence
 Light quartering tailwind is the most dangerous
 Avoid the area below and behind the wake generating aircraft, especially at low altitude where even a
momentary wake encounter could be catastrophic.

Surface analysis charts

 Lines of isobar represent pressure
 Spaced at 4 millibars or hectopascals

Cold fronts:
 Cold air pushes into warmer air mass
 Fast moving
 Pushes under warm air, warm air rises ahead of front
 CU, CB, and thunderstorms, heavy rain

Warm fronts:
 Warm air pushes into a cooler air mass
 Slower moving
 Stratiform clouds
 Long continuous precipitation

Stationary fronts:
 Cold or warm front stops moving

Occluded fronts:
 Cold front overtakes warm front