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260:, 2019. During morning and evening hours, dense smoke often settles in low-lying areas and becomes trapped due to temperature inversions—when a layer within the lower atmosphere acts as a lid and prevents vertical mixing of the air. Steep canyon walls act as a horizontal barrier, concentrating the smoke within the deepest parts of the canyon and increasing the strength of the inversion.
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and have higher thermal masses than rural areas, resulting in more frequent inversions with higher concentrations of pollutants. The effects are even more pronounced when a city is surrounded by hills or mountains since they form an additional barrier to air circulation. During a severe inversion, trapped air pollutants form a brownish
421:. However, if this cap is broken, either by extreme convection overcoming the cap or by the lifting effect of a front or a mountain range, the sudden release of bottled-up convective energy—like the bursting of a balloon—can result in severe thunderstorms. Such capping inversions typically precede the development of tornadoes in the
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by the temperature gradient (which affects sound speed) and returns to the ground. The sound, therefore, travels much better than normal. This is noticeable in areas around airports, where the sound of aircraft taking off and landing often can be heard at greater distances around dawn than at other
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of air decreases, a side effect of hotter air being less dense. Normally this results in distant objects being shortened vertically, an effect that is easy to see at sunset when the sun is visible as an oval. In an inversion, the normal pattern is reversed, and distant objects are instead stretched
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Temperature inversions stop atmospheric convection (which is normally present) from happening in the affected area and can lead to high concentrations of atmospheric pollutants. Cities especially suffer from the effects of temperature inversions because they both produce more atmospheric pollutants
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is typically present below the inversion cap. An inversion is also produced whenever radiation from the surface of the earth exceeds the amount of radiation received from the sun, which commonly occurs at night, or during the winter when the sun is very low in the sky. This effect is virtually
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may then develop over the ocean as a result. As this layer moves over progressively warmer waters, however, turbulence within the marine layer can gradually lift the inversion layer to higher altitudes, and eventually even pierce it, producing thunderstorms, and under the right circumstances,
392:
Under the right conditions, the normal vertical temperature gradient is inverted so that the air is colder near the surface of the Earth. This can occur when, for example, a warmer, less-dense air mass moves over a cooler, denser air mass. This type of inversion occurs in the vicinity of
646:. Along coastlines during Autumn and Spring, due to multiple stations being simultaneously present because of reduced propagation losses, many FM radio stations are plagued by severe signal degradation disrupting reception. In higher frequencies such as
602:"—a phenomenon occurring at sunrise or sunset, usually visible for a few seconds, in which the sun's green light is isolated due to dispersion. The shorter wavelength is refracted most, with the blue component of sunlight "completely scattered out by
331:
is warmer than the air above it, largely because the atmosphere is heated from below as solar radiation warms the Earth's surface, which in turn then warms the layer of the atmosphere directly above it, e.g., by
683:
from an explosion can be reflected by an inversion layer in much the same way as it bounces off the ground in an air-burst and can cause additional damage as a result. This phenomenon killed two people in the
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where smoke that was emitted from an oil palm mill stayed close to the ground. The wind carried the smoke in the direction of the nearby settlement to the middle-right of the photo (August 2023).
340:). Air temperature also decreases with an increase in altitude because higher air is at lower pressure, and lower pressure results in a lower temperature, following the
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times of day, and inversion thunder which is significantly louder and travels further than when it is produced by lightning strikes under normal conditions.
1007:
User's guide for the Sound
Intensity Prediction System (SIPS) as installed at the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division (Naveodtechdiv)
55:
425:. In this instance, the "cooler" layer is quite warm but is still denser and usually cooler than the lower part of the inversion layer capping it.
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up and away into space, is instead refracted down towards the earth by the temperature-inversion boundary layer. This phenomenon is called
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can condense but can only spread out under the inversion layer. This decreases the amount of sunlight reaching the ground and prevents new
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A warmer air mass moving over a cooler one can "shut off" any convection which may be present in the cooler air mass: this is known as a
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368:) under normal atmospheric conditions (black line). When the layer from 6–8 kilometres (4–5 miles) (designated A-B) descends dry
554:, England, is one of the most serious examples of such an inversion. It was blamed for an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 deaths.
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from forming. As the clouds disperse, sunny weather replaces cloudiness in a cycle that can occur more than once a day.
802:
Nagle, Garrett, and Paul
Guinness. Cambridge International A and AS Level Geography. Hodder Education, 2011. 41. Print.
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865:"A Retrospective Assessment of Mortality from the London Smog Episode of 1952: The Role of Influenza and Pollution"
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453:. The accumulated smog and dust under the inversion quickly taints the sky reddish, easily seen on sunny days.
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An inversion can develop aloft as a result of air gradually sinking over a wide area and being warmed by
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When an inversion layer is present, if a sound or explosion occurs at ground level, the sound wave is
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by acting as a "cap". If this cap is broken for any of several reasons, convection of any
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ben Aroush, Tomer; Boulahjar, Saber; Lipson, Stephen G (December 13, 2017).
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ben Aroush, Tomer; Boulahjar, Saber; Lipson, Stephen G (December 13, 2017).
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Deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude
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818:(1st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 30–35.
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confined to land regions as the ocean retains heat far longer. In the
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Wallace and Hobbs (2006) Atmospheric
Science: An Introductory Survey
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in the United States. With sufficient humidity in the cooler layer,
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Oke, Tim; Mills, Gerald; Christen, Andrea; Voogt, James (2017).
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Sometimes the inversion layer is at a high enough altitude that
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during winter, inversions are nearly always present over land.
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increases, but this relationship is reversed in an inversion.
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can be refracted by inversions, making it possible to hear
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Temperature inversion phenomenon in the early morning near
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out or appear to be above the horizon, leading to the
634:-band television broadcasts from long distances on
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may be too technical for most readers to understand
62:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
295:, near the ground. An inversion can also suppress
517:Inversion-created smog in Nowa Ruda, Poland, 2017
863:Bell, M.L.; Davis, D.L.; Fletcher, T. (2004).
962:"Observing the green flash in the laboratory"
916:"Observing the green flash in the laboratory"
193:Temperature inversion in an urban environment
8:
1009:. Systems Department February 2000. DTIC.mil
638:nights. The signal, which would normally be
473:) of a ship is due to an inversion (2008).
323:Usually, within the lower atmosphere (the
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578:As the temperature of air increases, the
546:that can cause respiratory problems. The
177:Learn how and when to remove this message
161:, without removing the technical details.
122:Learn how and when to remove this message
460:
1065:'Fire inversions' lock smoke in valleys
1005:Dean A. Pollet and Micheal M. Kordich,
740:
598:Inversions can magnify the so-called "
437:compression, usually associated with
159:make it understandable to non-experts
7:
60:adding citations to reliable sources
1042:"RDS-37: The Soviet Hydrogen Bomb"
327:) the air near the surface of the
307:. Temperature inversion can cause
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36:
749:"Smoke Filled Canyons, Arizona"
397:, and also in areas of oceanic
245:during a temperature inversion.
47:needs additional citations for
237:Smog trapped over the city of
1:
1074:The dictionary definition of
730:Index of meteorology articles
319:Normal atmospheric conditions
201:Temperature inversion in the
303:can then erupt into violent
71:"Inversion" meteorology
1099:Radio frequency propagation
1021:"RDS-37 Nuclear Test, 1955"
966:European Journal of Physics
920:European Journal of Physics
694:when a building collapsed.
497:A temperature inversion in
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1094:Atmospheric thermodynamics
613:
753:earthobservatory.nasa.gov
650:, such refraction causes
978:10.1088/1361-6404/aa90f5
932:10.1088/1361-6404/aa90f5
783:National Weather Service
457:Atmospheric consequences
423:Midwestern United States
338:convective heat transfer
253:Smoke-filled canyons in
870:Environ Health Perspect
280:gradually decreases as
1019:Johnston, Wm. Robert.
757:NASA Earth Observatory
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364:) versus temperature (
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824:10.1017/9781139016476
652:multipath propagation
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380:Klagenfurter Becken (
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274:temperature inversion
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211:clouds at a low level
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775:forecast.weather.gov
644:tropospheric ducting
429:Subsidence inversion
346:adiabatic lapse rate
56:improve this article
877:(1, January): 6–8.
621:Very high frequency
604:Rayleigh scattering
580:index of refraction
442:high-pressure areas
287:An inversion traps
548:Great Smog of 1952
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401:such as along the
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1047:December 26,
1045:. Retrieved
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786:. Retrieved
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725:Particulates
692:nuclear test
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589:Fata Morgana
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467:Fata Morgana
446:marine layer
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54:Please help
49:verification
46:
29:
675:Shock waves
624:radio waves
610:Radio waves
600:green flash
587:known as a
444:. A stable
439:subtropical
395:warm fronts
352:Description
325:troposphere
266:meteorology
1088:Categories
771:"Glossary"
736:References
681:shock wave
648:microwaves
585:phenomenon
499:Bratislava
297:convection
291:, such as
243:Kazakhstan
223:Lochcarron
82:newspapers
1026:April 11,
986:125714499
940:125714499
668:refracted
640:refracted
630:or watch
507:NovĂ˝ Most
435:adiabatic
399:upwelling
386:hoarfrost
270:inversion
167:July 2022
991:June 21,
972:(1): 2.
945:June 21,
926:(1): 2.
901:14698923
839:June 21,
788:July 30,
698:See also
628:FM radio
563:thermals
535:Malaysia
503:Slovakia
483:Shanghai
360:Height (
334:thermals
301:humidity
282:altitude
255:northern
227:Scotland
209:, forms
112:May 2020
892:1241789
720:Aerosol
632:VHF low
509:(2005).
388:margin.
382:Austria
258:Arizona
207:England
153:Please
96:scholar
984:
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899:
889:
830:
689:RDS-37
686:Soviet
656:fading
593:mirage
552:London
471:mirage
366:x-axis
362:y-axis
239:Almaty
98:
91:
84:
77:
69:
982:S2CID
936:S2CID
662:Sound
636:foggy
574:Light
531:Sabah
527:Tawau
487:China
329:Earth
268:, an
103:JSTOR
89:books
1049:2015
1028:2014
993:2022
947:2022
897:PMID
841:2022
828:ISBN
790:2024
779:NOAA
679:The
654:and
544:haze
469:(or
344:and
293:smog
272:(or
75:news
974:doi
928:doi
887:PMC
879:doi
875:112
820:doi
781:'s
591:or
550:in
407:fog
311:in
264:In
157:to
58:by
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