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Micro, meso, macro

MICROCLIMATE - near the


ground over your front yard
MESOCLIMATE - over a
field or few fields (a few
square kilometers)
MACROCLIMATE - scale of
a state or country
GLOBAL CLIMATE - over
entire earth
Climate controls
Latitude
Land and water
Ocean currents
Prevailing winds
Pressure cells
Mountain barriers
Altitude
A MICROCLIMATE is a local atmospheric zone
where the climate differs from the surrounding
area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few
square feet (for example a garden bed) or as large
as many square miles (for example a valley).
Microclimates exist, for example, near bodies of
water which may cool the local atmosphere, or in
heavily urban areas where brick, concrete, and
asphalt absorb the sun's energy, heat up, and
reradiate that heat to the ambient air
the resulting URBAN HEAT ISLAND is a kind of
microclimate
Another contributory factor to microclimate is the
slope or aspect of an area.
South-facing slopes in the Northern Hemisphere and
north-facing slopes in the Southern Hemisphere are
exposed to more direct sunlight than opposite slopes and
are therefore warmer for longer.

Mountain ranges are diverters of air masses
Affect the flow of moisture-laden air and cause rain
shadows for the areas on the leeward side
Temperature decreases with the rise in height and
cold air flows downhill and settles in valleys
Air temperature is lower in such areas
Air speed increases up the windward slope
Air speed is maximum at the crest and minimum
on the leeward side.

The effect of topography on
average annual precipitation
along a line running from the
Pacific Ocean through
central California into
western Nevada.


Vertical view of changing vegetation and
climate due to elevation in the central
Sierra Nevada.
An urban heat island (UHI) is a metropolitan area which is significantly
warmer than its surrounding rural areas
The temperature difference usually is larger at night than during the day, and
is most apparent when winds are weak. Seasonally, UHI is seen during both
summer and winter
The main cause of the urban heat island is modification of the land surface by
urban development which uses materials which effectively retain heat.
Waste heat generated by energy usage is a secondary contributor.
As population centers grow they tend to modify a greater and greater area of
land and have a corresponding increase in average temperature. The lesser-
used term heat island refers to any area, populated or not, which is
consistently hotter than the surrounding area
Monthly rainfall is greater downwind of cities, partially due to the UHI.
Increases in heat within urban centers increases the length of growing
seasons, and decreases the occurrence of weak tornadoes.
Increases in the death rate during heat waves has been shown to increase by
latitude due to the urban heat island effect
Decreases air quality by increasing the production of pollutants such as
ozone
Decreases water quality as warmer waters flow into area streams, which
stresses their ecosystems.

http://www.learn.londonmet.ac.uk/packages/clear/thermal/buildings/micro_climate/heat_islands.html
Places with plants and vegetation
have different thermal properties as
compared to built-up and hard-
surfaced unplanted areas.
The main differences are: Plants
have lower heat capacity and
thermal conductivity than building
materials and hard surfaces.
Solar radiation is mostly absorbed
in the leaves, so that the reflected
radiation is very small.
Rain water is absorbed in the soil.
Water is later evaporated from the
soil and mainly from the leaves.
The evaporation rate is much
higher in green areas than in
unplanted, hard covered areas.
Plants reduce the wind speed and
its fluctuations near the ground.

Compared with most land surfaces,
water bodies exhibit very little change
in surface temperature during the day.
Water is different because:
Solar radiation can be transmitted
deep within it and then absorbed.
Heat can also pass deep within the
water by convection and mixing.
Water loses heat by evaporation.
Specific heat of water is very high
(high inertia) when compared to
that of building materials.

The relative humidity of air is also
affected, since the air coming from a
water body is more humid.
Such phenomena are stronger close to
water bodies, but may also affect the
regional climate by creating strong
air movement reaching large
distances. This is mainly affected by
the physical characteristics of the
region, such as topography and
vegetation.
The proximity of a site to the sea or
other large water bodies also affects
the climatic conditions in and
around the site
Wind movement from the water
body during the day, and towards
it at night, is caused by temperature
differences of the air close to the
surfaces of the soil and water.
Ground surface whether natural
or man-made, its characteristics
of reflectance, permeability and
soil temperature influence the
microclimate.
Depending on the ground
surface, incident radiation can
be absorbed, reflected or stored
and re-radiated later.
Radiative heat gain could be
decreased or increased during
the daytime.
Emissivity of a surface depends
on its texture.
During night time, rough
surfaces would re-radiate the
heat absorbed during the day
faster than smooth surfaces.

The diurnal variation of rainfall at
any tropical location is determined
by a complexity of many factors
radiational heating and cooling,
land-sea breeze effects,
Topography,
frequency of synoptic
disturbances, etc
The simple classical scheme,
diurnal shower activity increases
over land in the afternoon and
diminishes in the evening,
clear skies predominate in the
late night and morning hours.
Contrary to the popular classical
scheme, many tropical land stations
do not show a rainfall maximum
during the afternoon period
associated with maximum surface
heating.
The eastern coast has its
peak rainfall at night and
the west coast during the
afternoon, both during
the rainy and dry seasons
Convergence is enhanced
in the east at night, when
the land breeze meets the
easterly trades.
In the afternoon, the
convergence moves to the
western shore when the
sea breeze tries to enter
the island from that
direction.
The north-south
orientation of the rain
maximum suggests
general trade wind
convergence upon
striking land, mostly
nearly at right angles.
1.Warm air over land rises
2.Sea Breeze moves inland as a
mesoscale cold front
3.Cumuli develop aloft and move
seaward
4.Upper level return land breeze
5.Cool air aloft sinks over water
6.Sea Breeze (meso-cold) Front

1.Cool air over land sinks
2.Land Breeze moves out over
water
3.Relatively warmer water heats
air which then rises
4.Upper level return sea breeze
5.Cool air over land sinks

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