In meteorology, an air mass is a volume of air defined by its temperature and water vapor content. Air masses cover many hundreds or thousands of square miles, and adopt the characteristics of the surface below them. They are classified according to latitude and their continental or maritime source regions. Colder air masses are termed polar or arctic, while warmer air masses are deemed tropical. Continental and superior air masses are dry while maritime and monsoon air masses are moist. Weather fronts separate air masses with different density (temperature and/or moisture) characteristics. Once an air mass moves away from its source region, underlying vegetation and water bodies can quickly modify its character. Classification schemes tackle an air mass' characteristics, and well as modification.
Read more about Air Mass: Classification and Notation, Characteristics, Movement and Fronts, Modification
Famous quotes containing the words air and/or mass:
“We’re talking scum here. Air should be illegal if they breathe it.”
—Washington, DC, Policeman. quoted by P.J. O’Rourke in Rolling Stone (New York, 30 Nov. 1989)
“The great mass of people judge well of things, for they are in natural ignorance, which is man’s true state.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)