What is temperature inversion

Overnight radiative cooling of surface air often results in a nocturnal temperature inversion that is dissipated after sunrise by the warming of air near the ground. A more long-lived temperature inversion accompanies the dynamics of the large high-pressure systems depicted on weather maps.

Descending currents of air near the center of the high-pressure system produce a warming by adiabatic compression , causing air at middle altitudes to become warmer than the surface air. Great Plains Satellite - C.

Great Plains Satellite - S. A temperature inversion is a thin layer of the atmosphere where the normal decrease in temperature with height switches to the temperature increasing with height. An inversion acts like a lid, keeping normal convective overturning of the atmosphere from penetrating through the inversion.

This can cause several weather-related effects. We make air monitors that empower people to make small changes in their everyday lives and help with researchers, NGOs, and governments around the world to end air pollution at the source. Meet the Laser Egg Series Know more about your air and breathe better with the world's most popular air quality monitor. Shop - Select your country or region North America. Rest of Europe.

Visit global store. What Is a Temperature Inversion? What Causes a Temperature Inversion? These factors include: Topography - Cold air can sink into low areas, like valleys, settling below layers of warm air and intensifying the inversion. Time - Thermal inversions occur during the evening, when the land begins to cool. Season - Inversion events have the time necessary to develop during the winter months, when nights are at their longest. Wind - Moderate to strong winds help mix layers of cold and warm air, preventing the segmentation of a temperature inversion.

With weak winds, thermal inversions are much more likely to occur. Precipitation - Rainfall, like winds, help mix layers of air, discouraging the development of a temperature inversion. How Temperature Inversions Trap Air Pollution Temperature inversions effectively put a lid on air pollution in an area.

To learn more about air pollution, be sure to check out our air pollution discussion below! Share this article. This is inverted compared to what you would normally expect, hence the term 'inversion'. Inversions are most common in winter when mist and fog become trapped in the cooler air low down, but inversions can happen all year round.

What is a temperature inversion? How do they form? You might also like.