1

DAILY
CLASS NOTES
GEOGRAPHY

Lecture – 40
Air Masses and Fronts
 2

Air Masses and Fronts

Air Mass:
❖ Air mass is a large body of air with an area of around 1000 Sq. Km.
❖ It has distinct characteristics with respect to temperature and humidity.
❖ Its height extends from the surface to the lower stratosphere.
❖ There is very little or nil change in the temperature horizontally.
❖ Area mass is an integral part of the Planetary Wind System.
❖ One air mass interacts (front formation) with another air mass.
❖ When the air remains over a homogenous area for a sufficiently longer time, it acquires the characteristics of
the area. The homogenous regions can be the vast ocean surface or vast plains and plateaus.
❖ The air with distinctive characteristics in terms of temperature and humidity is called an Air Mass. It is
a large body of air having little horizontal variation in temperature and moisture.
❖ Air masses form an integral part of the global planetary wind system. Therefore, they are associated with
one or other wind belts.
❖ They extend from surface to lower stratosphere and are spread across thousands of kilometers.
Sources of Air Mass:
❖ The homogeneous surfaces, over which air masses form, are called the 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).
❖ Source Region establishes heat and moisture equilibrium with the overlying air mass.
❖ When an air mass moves away from a source region, the upper level maintains the physical characteristics for
a longer period.
➢ This is possible because air masses are stable with stagnant air which does not facilitate convection.
 3

❖ There are five major source regions. These are:

1. Warm tropical and subtropical oceans;
2. The subtropical hot deserts;
3. The relatively cold high latitude oceans;
4. The very cold snow covered continents in high latitudes;
5. Permanently ice covered continents in the Arctic and Antarctica.
Conditions for the Formation of Air Masses:
❖ Source region should be extensive with gentle, divergent air circulation (slightly at high pressure).
❖ There should be uniformity in meteorological conditions on the surface over which it is present.
❖ The air mass should be provided with sufficient time to adapt to the characteristics of the surface.
❖ Plain topography will generally assist their formation.
❖ Areas with high pressure but little pressure difference or pressure gradient are ideal source regions.
❖ Low-Pressure gradient (avoid wind movement within air mass) with gentle high pressure.
❖ There are no major source regions in the mid-latitudes as these regions are dominated by cyclonic and other
disturbances.
Different types of Air Mass:
1. Based on Temperature:
❖ Cold Air Mass:
➢ It is the air mass whose temperature is lower than that of the areas/regions visited or it passes over.
➢ It will be heavy, dry (relative humidity will be low) and creates stability conditions.
➢ Example: The air mass in the Arctic will be cold and moist, in Canada and Siberia it will be cold and
dry.
❖ Warm Air Mass:
➢ It is the air mass whose temperature is higher than the temperature of the region/area visited or the region
it passes over.
➢ It will be lighter and create instability. There will be clouds and precipitation.
➢ Example: In tropical oceans the air mass will be moist and warm, the air mass in deserts will be warm
and dry like Sahara, Kalahari, Thar etc.
2. On the basis of source regions:
❖ Continental Air Mass:
➢ It occurs on land
➢ If it occurs in tropics it is known as Continental Tropical Air Mass. Example: Africa.
➢ If it occurs in poles it is known as Continental Polar Air Mass. Example: Antarctica.
❖ Maritime Air Mass:
➢ It is formed on the ocean or water
➢ If it occurs in the tropics it is known as Maritime Tropical Air Mass. Example: Equatorial Pacific.
➢ If it occurs in poles it is known as Maritime Polar Air Mass. Example: Polar Sea.
 4

❖ Continental Arctic: If it occurs in the continental Arctic zone it is known as the Continental Arctic Air Mass.
❖ These categories are represented by a lowercase 'c' for continental or 'm' for maritime.
Air Masses Based on Source Regions:
❖ Accordingly, the following types of air masses are recognised:
1. Maritime tropical (mT);
2. Continental tropical (cT);
3. Maritime polar (mP);
4. Continental polar (cP);
5. Continental arctic (cA).
❖ Tropical Air Masses are warm and Polar Air Masses are cold.
❖ The heat transfer processes that warm or cool the air take place slowly.
❖ Arctic air masses occur over arctic regions, like Greenland and Antarctica.
❖ Polar air masses occur slightly farther from the poles, like in Siberia, Canada and the Northern Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans.
❖ Finally, tropical air masses occur in the tropics, so along the equator and over Mexico and the Southwest U.S
Cold Air Mass:
❖ A cold air mass is one which is colder than the underlying surface and is associated with instability and
atmospheric turbulence.
❖ Cold source regions (Polar Air Masses):
1. Arctic Ocean - cold and moist
2. Siberia - cold and dry
3. Northern Canada - cold and dry
4. Southern Ocean - cold and moist
Warm Air Mass:
❖ A Warm Air Mass is one which is warmer than the underlying surface and is associated with stable weather
conditions.
❖ Warm source regions (Tropical Air Masses)
1. Sahara Desert - warm and dry
2. Tropical Oceans - warm and Moist
Influence of Air Masses on Global Weather:
❖ The properties of an air mass that influence the accompanying weather are vertical distribution temperature
(indicating its stability and coldness or warmness) and the moisture content.
❖ The air masses carry atmospheric moisture from oceans to continents and cause precipitation over land
masses. Air Mass plays a role in the transfer of moisture from the equator to the poles.
❖ They transport latent heat, thus removing the latitudinal heat balance. It transfers heat from the equator to
the poles.
 5

❖ Most of the migratory atmospheric disturbances such as cyclones and storms originate at the contact zone
between different air masses and the weather associated with these disturbances is determined by the
characteristics of the air masses involved.
❖ It plays a role in the formation of weather phenomena like precipitation, thunderstorms, cyclones, fog,
tornadoes and the formation of planetary winds.
Classification of Air Masses:
❖ Broadly, air masses are classified into polar and tropical air masses.
❖ Both the polar and the continental air masses can be either of maritime or continental types.
➢ Continental Polar Air Masses (cP)
➢ Maritime Polar Air Masses (mP)
➢ Continental Tropical Air Masses (cT)
➢ Maritime Tropical Air Masses (mT)
Continental Polar Air Masses (cP):
❖ Source regions of these air masses are the Arctic basin, northern North America, Eurasia and Antarctica.
❖ These air masses are characterized by dry, cold and stable conditions.
❖ The weather during winter is frigid, clear and stable.
❖ During summer, the weather is less stable with the lesser prevalence of anticyclonic winds, warmer
landmasses and lesser snow.
❖ They are marked by surface high pressure, cold temperatures, and low dew points.
Maritime Polar Air Masses (mP):
❖ The source region of these air masses are the oceans lying between 40° and 60° latitudes.
❖ These are actually those continental polar air masses which have moved over the warmer oceans, got heated
up and have collected moisture.
❖ The conditions over the source regions are cool, moist and unstable. These are the regions which cannot lie
stagnant for long.
❖ The weather during winters is characterized by high humidity, overcast skies and occasional fog and
precipitation.
❖ During summer, the weather is clear, fair and stable.
Continental Tropical Air Masses (cT):
❖ They are part of upper-level westerlies
❖ The source regions of the air masses include tropical and Sub-tropical Deserts of Sahara in Africa, and of West
Asia and Australia.
❖ These air masses are dry, hot and stable and do not extend beyond the source.
❖ They are dry throughout the year.
❖ Continental tropical air masses originate in northern Mexico. They are characterized by clear skies and
negligible rainfall.
 6

Maritime Tropical Air Masses (mT):

❖ The source regions of these air masses include the oceans in the tropics and sub-tropics such as the Mexican
Gulf, the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans.
❖ These air masses are warm, humid and unstable.
❖ The weather during winter has mild temperatures, and overcast skies with fog.
❖ During summer, the weather is characterized by high temperatures, high humidity, cumulous clouds and
convectional rainfall.
Continental Polar Air Maritime Polar Air Continental Tropical Maritime Tropical
Mass (cP) Mass (mP) Air Mass (cT) Air Mass (mT)
Source regions: It occurs Source regions: It occurs Source regions: It forms Source regions: These
in North America, between 450 – 600 latitude over warm and dry land form over tropical and
Eurasia, Siberia, and oceans. regions with high subtropical oceans.
Canada. Example: In the temperatures. Examples: Indian Ocean,
Norwegian Sea, North Example: Deserts of Gulf of Mexico,
Sea Tropics and Sub-Tropics Equatorial Pacific.
such as Africa, Arab, Thar
etc.
The air mass will be cold The air mass is moist and No clouds or The air mass will be
and dry with relatively cool. precipitation will form. It warm and moist with
low humidity. is a part of upper-level high relative humidity.
westerlies.
It is a stable air mass. It creates unstable It creates stable weather It creates unstable
weather conditions. conditions. weather conditions.
The weather will be clear The weather will be The weather conditions The weather conditions
with a frigid zone. humid with the will be warm and dry will be warm and
occurrence of fog and throughout the year. formations of clouds,
precipitation. thunderstorms and
Fronts will be formed precipitation will take
which will lead to frontal place.
rains, frontal storms and The types of clouds that
frontal cyclones. will form are cumulus
and cumulonimbus.

   