Thermals are often indicated by the presence of visible cumulus clouds. The rising air in a thermal cools as it ascends, until the water vapor in the air begins to condense into visible droplets.
Thermal Wind It is a theoretical wind that blows parallel to the thickness lines, for the layer considered, analogous to how the geostrophic wind blows parallel to the height contours.
thermal"1. Pertaining to temperature or heat. 2. A discrete buoyant element in which the buoyancy is confined to a limited volume of fluid. See plume. 3.
Thermal Stress
Of Australia's major natural hazard deaths 4,200 have been due to heat stress.
It's easy to become dehydrated and overheated, especially when you are active, in hot weather.
Thermal Ridge - an axis of relatively high values of temperature
Thermometer - an instrument for measuring temperature consisting typically of a glass bulb attached to a fine tube of glass with a numbered scale and containing a liquid that is ...
Thermal: A rising parcel of warm, and less dense, air generally produced when the Earth's surface is heated or when cold air moves over a warmer surface such as warm water.
THERMAL LOW Also known as heat low, it is an area of low pressure due to the high temperatures caused by intensive heating at the surface. It tends to remain stationary over its source area, with weak cyclonic circulation.
THERMAL: Small rising column of air due to surface heating.
THICKNESS: The height difference between two atmospheric pressure levels and is related to the average temperature in the column.
thermal pollution: an increase in air or water temperature caused by heat from man-made sources.
thermocline: A temperature gradient within layer of a body of water that is notably greater than the temperature gradients above and below it.
THERMAL LOW- A surface low pressure caused by intense surface heating. Thermal lows weaken with height since the source of heating is at the surface. They commonly occur in desert regions in summer.
Thermal A small, rising parcel of warm air produced when the earth's surface is heated unevenly.
Thermograph A recording instrument that gives a continuous trace of temperature with time.
THERMAL- Small rising column of air due to surface heating.
THERMAL RIDGE or THERMAL TROUGH- A ridge of warmer temperatures or a trough of colder temperature.
Thermal inertia Resistance to a change in temperature.
Thermal wind A component of geostrophic wind that arises from a horizontal air temperature gradient.
Thermal Equator This is different from the geographic equator which circuscribes the Earth at 0 degrees latitude. The thermal equator is a line which circumscribes the Earth connecting all points of highest annual mean temperature.
Thermal Infrared Electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between about 3 and 25 micrometers.
Isothermal Layer Any layer where the temperature is constant with altitude, such that the temperature lapse rate is zero. Specifically, the approximately isothermal region of the atmosphere immediately above the tropopause.
isothermal—Of equal or constant temperature, with respect to either space or time; more commonly, temperature with height; a zero lapse rate.
J ...
The Thermal Wind
A "thermal wind" sounds as if it should be a wind caused by heat, but it is not. In addition to the variations of pressure over a level surface, there may also be variations of temperature.
Thermal Inversion: Phenomenon that occurs when the variation in temperature presents a behavior contrary to the normal one relating to altitude. In the troposphere it occurs when, inside a specific layer, the temperature increases with altitude.
THERMAL - A warm bubble or column of rising air.
THREE-AXIS CONTROL - A control system consisting of rudder, elevator and ailerons or spoilers.
THROTTLE - The fuel control on an engine which makes it speed up or slow down.
Thermal
A bubble of warm buoyant air rising through the atmosphere.
Thermometer ...
THERMAL LOW - A region of low pressure produced when air is heated and rises. Usually forms over hot desert regions. Smaller thermal lows may form over large cities and forest fires.
A thermal sensor (thermometer) with a sensing element that bends or deforms by an amount which is a function of temperature. An example of a deformation-type thermometer is the bimetallic thermometer used in a thermograph.
A thermally produced wind blowing during the day from the surface of a large lake to the shore, caused by the difference in the rates of heating of the surfaces of the lake and of the land.
A thermally produced wind blowing during the day from a cool ocean surface onto the adjoining warm land, caused by the difference in the rates of heating of the surfaces of the ocean and of the land.
Sea Breeze Convergence Zone ...
A thermally driven wind directed down a valley's axis, usually occurring during nighttime; part of the along-valley wind system.
Downburst ...
A thermally driven wind arising from differential heating between a land mass and the adjacent ocean that reverses its direction seasonally.
Monthly Climatological Report ...
Successive thermals following the same path usually rise higher than previous ones, and if a thermal is able to rise high enough to cool to its saturation point, the moisture within condenses and becomes visible as a cloud.
Photograph by: Holle ...
altithermal period A period of high temperature, particularly the one from 8000 to 4000 B.P. (before the present era), which was apparently warmer in summers, as compared with the present, and with the precipitation zones shifted poleward.
British thermal unit A unit of energy defined as the heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. It is equal to 252.1 calories or to 1055 joules.
Hadley Cell - a thermal circulation consisting of rising air near the equator and sinking air near 30 degrees latitude
Hail - precipitation in the form of rounded balls of ice, always formed in convective clouds, nearly always thunderstorms ...
clo - A unit of thermal insulation, usually applied to clothing or bedcovers.
ThermalA relatively small-scale, rising air current produced when the Earth's surface is heated. Thermals are a common source of low level turbulence for aircraft.
Fire WindA thermally driven wind blowing radially inward toward a fire, produced by horizontal temperature differences between the heated air above the fire and the surrounding cooler free atmosphere.
Cross-Valley Wind SystemA thermally driven wind that blows during daytime across the axis of a valley toward the heated sidewall.Crown FireA fire where flames travel from tree to tree at the level of the tree's crown or top.
Stability: Absolute Stability Isothermal: Temperature remaing the same from surface to some point aloft. Stability: Absolute Stability Inversion: Temperature warmimg as air ascends.
Q-Vectors: Like the thermal wind, these are not physical realities (they do not exist). However, they arise mathematically from the Omega Equation and they help explain the results of physical processes in the atmosphere.
Isothermal or small lapse rate of temperature(positive or negative). Because of the temperature structure, very little overturning of air takes place, either within the stratosphere, ...
Baroclinic instability is a situation that results from the tight thermal gradients when air parcels are unstable to slantwise forcing.
Bodies in thermal equilibrium with each other have the same temperature.
green house effect:process in which green house gases, like carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere, cause thermal radiation emitted by the Earth's surface to be reflected back down, therefore causing the climate to warm.
Hadley Cell - The thermally driven circulation system of equatonal and tropical latitudes consisting of two convection cells, one in each hemisphere.
Entropy - The measure of the randomness in a system. Also, the amount of thermal energy that is unavailable to do work.
Evaporation - The change of state from liquid water to vapor, requires energy (latent heat is absorbed).
COLD LOW A low pressure system that has its coldest temperatures at or near the center of circulation, and is thermally barotropic with respect to a horizontal plane. Also known as a cold core low.
Latent heat The heat released or absorbed per unit mass by a system in a reversible isobaric-isothermal change of phase.
Clear air turbulence (CAT) Turbulence encountered by aircraft flying through cloudless skies. Thermals, wind shear, and jet streams can each be a factor in producing CAT.
Cooling process of the Earth's surface and adjacent air, which occurs when infrared (heat) energy radiates from the surface of the Earth upward through the atmosphere into space. Air near the surface transfers its thermal energy to the nearby ground ...
For example, if the volume if halved, then the pressure is doubled. If the temperature is held constant, it becomes an isothermal process. Discovered by Robert Boyle (1627-1691), an Irish physicist and chemist and co-founder of the Royal Society.
IMG - Interferometric Monitor for Greenhouse gases
IRIS - Infrared Radiation Interferometer Spectrometer (1960s)
ITOS - Improved Television and infrared Observation Satellite (1970s)
ITS - Interferometer Thermal Sounder (HIS) ...
 See also: Temperature, Surface, Air, Atmosphere, Water
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