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Generally, the higher in the atmosphere air is, the cooler it is. However, there are some circumstances in which the opposite process occurs and a band of warmer air overlays cooler air. This is known as temperature inversion. A permanent temperature inversion occurs at the edge of the troposphere, with warmer air above it in the stratosphere after the barrier of a temperature inversion known as the troposphere. However, several other methods of creating a temperature inversion exist, which are temporary phenomena. One result of temperature inversion is that particles in the air are unable to rise up into the sky and instead form a layer following the contours of the inversion. When a temperature inversion occurs above an industrial area, therefore, it can trap atmospheric emissions and create smoke and gloomy weather, which can have negative health outcomes.
Ways in which temperature inversions can form include the differential degree of conduction between ground and air. If the ground cools rapidly, its greater level of conduction means the air closer to it is cooler than that some way above. This is known as ground inversion. Turbulence inversion occurs when a layer of turbulent air becomes cooled by interacting with upper layers of cooler air and therefore loses average levels of height compared with a higher level of calm air. A frontal inversion occurs when two bodies of air of different temperature meet at approximately the same height. Since the warmer air is lighter, it is forced up by the cooler air, which sinks beneath it. Finally, a subsidence inversion occurs when a body of air of the same temperature sinks. The top level of the body passes through a greater range of pressure change and so becomes warmer than the lower levels. All forms of temperature inversion are associated with the creation of clouds, humidity, and precipitation. Without an inversion, particles continue to rise and clouds are not formed.
Temperature inversion can have many different impacts on activities taking place on the ground. Ground temperature inversions can, for example, create frost that can damage or kill sensitive plants and crops. Widespread inversions can create extensive areas of pollution that can affect the health of people, animals, and plants. Since inversions tend to occur in the same places repeatedly, poorly located areas can suffer from persistent and pernicious pollution. Microclimate regions can occur in, for example, upland regions that regularly experience ground inversion.
Researching the presence and nature of inversions involves the use of satellites, thermal imaging, advanced statistical modeling, and physical measurement of atmospheric conditions in a range of different locations. The complexity of weather conditions across the earth means that it has not yet been possible to model inversions accurately in all conditions. However, awareness of their likelihood and effects can be used in planning the locations of industrial, residential, and agricultural activities.
Bibliography:
- Roger Barry and Richard Chorley, , Atmosphere, Weather and Climate (Routledge, 2003);
- Edward Bryant, Climate Process and Change (Cambridge University Press, 1997).
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