What is the difference between wind and currents?
May 07, 2020 · wind current. [′win ′k?‚r?nt] (meteorology) Generally, any of the quasi-permanent, large-scale wind systems of the atmosphere, for example, the westerlies, trade winds, equatorial easterlies, or polar easterlies.
What are currents powered by wind called?
Wind Currents. currents of the surface waters of oceans and seas resulting from the action of wind on the surface of the water: Wind currents arise owing to the combined influence of the forces of friction, turbulent viscosity, pressure gradient, deflecting force of the earth’s rotation, and so on. The wind component of these currents, without taking the pressure gradient into …
What type of currents are caused by the wind?
wind current. [ ′win ′kə‚rənt] (meteorology) Generally, any of the quasi-permanent, large-scale wind systems of the atmosphere, for example, the westerlies, trade winds, equatorial easterlies, or polar easterlies.
What are wind currents and ocean currents?
Wind. Winds drive currents that are at or near the ocean's surface. Near coastal areas winds tend to drive currents on a localized scale and can result in phenomena like coastal upwelling. On a more global scale, in the open ocean, winds drive currents that circulate water for thousands of miles throughout the ocean basins. 3.
What is the meaning of wind currents?
a wind current: a flow of air.
What causes wind currents?
Wind currents are produced due to the non-uniform heating of the Earth. That means uneven heating at the equator and the poles. This warm air rises and the making up of cooler air from the regions with the 0-30 degrees latitude belt on either side of the equator moves in. This is how wind currents are being generated.Nov 26, 2021
What is the meaning of air currents?
Air currents are winds that move in a riverlike flow in a certain direction. Thermal updrafts are gentle currents caused by warm air rising. Birds like eagles or California condors often ride these updrafts high into the sky. Jet streams are rapidly moving cold currents that circle the Earth high in the atmosphere.Sep 2, 2011
What is wind current Class 7?
Wind currents occur due to: Uneven heating between the regions near the equator and the poles and the rotation of the earth. Uneven heating of land and water in coastal areas.
What are surface currents?
A current is a stream of moving water that flows through the ocean. Surface currents are caused mainly by winds but not daily winds. Surface currents are caused by the major wind belts. These winds blow in the same direction all the time. So they can keep water moving in the same direction.May 7, 2021
What are the causes of currents?
Oceanic currents are driven by three main factors:The rise and fall of the tides. Tides create a current in the oceans, which are strongest near the shore, and in bays and estuaries along the coast. ... Wind. Winds drive currents that are at or near the ocean's surface. ... Thermohaline circulation.Feb 26, 2021
How many wind currents are there?
The unequal heating of the surface of the planet, i.e., the temperature differences between the Equator and the Poles, combined with the Earth's rotation, is responsible for the creation and development of six major air circulation patterns, three in each hemisphere.
What is the difference between wind and air current?
Air that moves horizontally along the earth's surface is called wind. The temperature and humidity varies in the wind system. Air current: The vertical or nearly vertical movement of air is referred to as air current.
Where are wind currents strongest?
Westerlies are strongest in the winter, when pressure over the pole is low, and weakest in summer, when the polar high creates stronger polar easterlies. The strongest westerlies blow through the “Roaring Forties,” a wind zone between 40 and 50 degrees latitude in the Southern Hemisphere.Nov 15, 2012
How are wind currents formed Class 7?
Due to the uneven heating on the Earth, wind currents are generated. An uneven heating occurs between the equator and the poles and also between land and water. Equator and poles: Our Earth is ellipsoid in shape since it has bulged at the equator and flattened at the poles.
What causes wind class 9?
Answer: Winds are caused due to unequal heating of atmospheric air. This phenomena can be easily seen near coastal regions during the daytime. The air above the land gets heated faster and starts rising. As this air rises, a region Of low pressure is created and air over the sea moves into this area Of low pressure.
What is a cyclone Class 9?
Cyclones is a small low pressure system winds blowing from the surrounding high pressure areas.It rises causing swirls in the atmosphere. It then cools off to form clouds.
What is wind movement?
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Wind occurs on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hours, to global winds resulting from the difference in absorption of solar energy between ...
What causes wind?
The wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure which is mainly caused by temperature difference. When a difference in atmospheric pressure exists, air moves from the higher to the lower pressure area, resulting in winds of various speeds.
How do winds affect landforms?
Winds can shape landforms, via a variety of aeolian processes such as the formation of fertile soils, such as loess, and by erosion.
Which wind blows across the poles?
Easterly winds, on average, dominate the flow pattern across the poles, westerly winds blow across the mid-latitudes of the earth, polewards of the subtropical ridge, while easterlies again dominate the tropics .
Where does the strongest wind occur?
The strongest observed winds on a planet in the Solar System occur on Neptune and Saturn .
What is a short burst of high speed wind called?
Short bursts of high speed wind are termed gusts. Strong winds of intermediate duration (around one minute) are termed squalls. Long-duration winds have various names associated with their average strength, such as breeze, gale, storm, and hurricane.
How to determine wind direction?
For example, a northerly wind blows from the north to the south. Weather vanes pivot to indicate the direction of the wind. At airports, windsocks indicate wind direction, and can also be used to estimate wind speed by the angle of hang. Wind speed is measured by anemometers, most commonly using rotating cups or propellers. When a high measurement frequency is needed (such as in research applications), wind can be measured by the propagation speed of ultrasound signals or by the effect of ventilation on the resistance of a heated wire. Another type of anemometer uses pitot tubes that take advantage of the pressure differential between an inner tube and an outer tube that is exposed to the wind to determine the dynamic pressure, which is then used to compute the wind speed.
What is wind energy?
wind. Noun. movement of air (from a high pressure zone to a low pressure zone) caused by the uneven heating of the Earth by the sun. wind energy. Noun. kinetic energy produced by the movement of air, able to be converted to mechanical power. wind farm.
What is wind movement?
Vocabulary. Wind is the movement of air caused by the uneven heating of the Earth by the sun. It does not have much substance—you cannot see it or hold it—but you can feel its force. It can dry your clothes in summer and chill you to the bone in winter.
How fast can a tornado go?
They can travel for several kilometers before dissipating. However, the most powerful tornadoes can have wind speeds of more than 482 kph (300 mph) and be more than 3 kilometers (2 miles) across.
What is the boundary between high pressure and low pressure?
Winds generally blow from high-pressure areas to low-pressure areas. The boundary between these two areas is called a front. The complex relationships between fronts cause different types of wind and weather pattern s. Prevailing wind s are winds that blow from a single direction over a specific area of the Earth.
What is prevailing wind?
Prevailing wind s are winds that blow from a single direction over a specific area of the Earth. Areas where prevailing winds meet are called convergence zone s. Generally, prevailing winds blow east-west rather than north-south. This happens because Earth’s rotation generates what is known as the Coriolis effect.
What is the wind speed of a blizzard?
The U.S. Weather Service calls a storm a blizzard when the storm has wind speeds of more than 56 kph (35 mph) and low visibility. (Visibility is the distance that a person can see—blizzards, like fog, make visibility difficult and a task like driving dangerous.)
What are the drawbacks of wind farms?
The economic drawback to wind farms, however, is the wind itself. If it's not blowing, there's no electricity generated. Still, use of wind energy has more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2006. Germany has the most installed wind energy capacity, followed by Spain, the United States, India, and Denmark.
How fast is ocean current?
Currents are generally measured in meters per second or in knots (1 knot = 1.85 kilometers per hour or 1.15 miles per hour). Oceanic currents are driven by three main factors: 1. The rise and fall of the tides.
What are the factors that drive ocean currents?
Oceanic currents are driven by three main factors: 1. The rise and fall of the tides. Tides create a current in the oceans, which are strongest near the shore, and in bays and estuaries along the coast. These are called "tidal currents.".
How fast can a tidal current travel?
In some locations, strong tidal currents can travel at speeds of eight knots or more. 2.
What is thermohaline circulation?
This is a process driven by density differences in water due to temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline) variations in different parts of the ocean. Currents driven by thermohaline circulation occur at both deep and shallow ocean levels and move much slower than tidal or surface currents.
Wind Currents
Wind Currents, also referred to as Upcurrents and Updrafts, create an updraft which players can use as a jumping point to start gliding, gain altitude while gliding, or restore some Stamina while gliding.
Creation
Some devices can create temporary wind currents. All Anemo Ambers and some Anemo Monuments, Windmill Mechanisms, and Pressure Plates create Wind Currents when activated. Anemograna, as well as the gadget Wind Catcher, can also be used to create temporary Wind Currents.
Locations
Many Wind Currents can be found at fixed locations in Stormterror's Lair. The updrafts are temporary but recurring.
What is wind in science?
Definition of wind. (Entry 1 of 6) 1 a : a natural movement of air of any velocity especially : the earth's air or the gas surrounding a planet in natural motion horizontally. b : an artificially produced movement of air.
What is the meaning of "to rest"?
2 : to detect or follow by scent. 3 : to expose to the air or wind : dry by exposing to air. 4 : to regulate the wind supply of (an organ pipe) 5 : to rest (an animal, such as a horse) in order to allow the breath to be recovered. intransitive verb.
What does "short of breath" mean?
1 : to make short of breath. 2 : to detect or follow by scent. 3 : to expose to the air or wind : dry by exposing to air. 4 : to regulate the wind supply of (an organ pipe) 5 : to rest (an animal, such as a horse) in order to allow the breath to be recovered. intransitive verb.
Overview
Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few hours, to global winds resulting from the difference in absorption of solar energy between the climate zones on Earth. The two main causes of large-scale atmospheric circulationare the differential heating between the equator and the poles, and the r…
Causes
The wind is caused by differences in atmospheric pressure which is mainly caused by temperature difference. When a difference in atmospheric pressure exists, air moves from the higher to the lower pressure area, resulting in winds of various speeds. On a rotating planet, air will also be deflected by the Coriolis effect, except exactly on the equator. Globally, the two major driving factors of large-scale wind patterns (the atmospheric circulation) are the differential heat…
Measurement
Wind direction is usually expressed in terms of the direction from which it originates. For example, a northerly wind blows from the north to the south. Weather vanes pivot to indicate the direction of the wind. At airports, windsocks indicate wind direction, and can also be used to estimate wind speed by the angle of hang. Wind speed is measured by anemometers, most commonly usin…
Wind force scale
Historically, the Beaufort wind force scale (created by Beaufort) provides an empirical description of wind speed based on observed sea conditions. Originally it was a 13-level scale (0-12), but during the 1940s, the scale was expanded to 18 levels (0-17). There are general terms that differentiate winds of different average speeds such as a breeze, a gale, a storm, or a hurricane. Within the Beaufort scale, gale-force winds lie between 28 knots (52 km/h) and 55 knots (102 k…
Global climatology
Easterly winds, on average, dominate the flow pattern across the poles, westerly winds blow across the mid-latitudes of the earth, polewards of the subtropical ridge, while easterlies again dominate the tropics.
Directly under the subtropical ridge are the doldrums, or horse latitudes, where winds are lighter. Many of the Earth's deserts lie near the average latitude of th…
Local considerations
In coastal regions, sea breezes and land breezes can be important factors in a location's prevailing winds. The sea is warmed by the sun more slowly because of water's greater specific heatcompared to land. As the temperature of the surface of the land rises, the land heats the air above it by conduction. The warm air is less dense than the surrounding environment and so it rises. The c…
Average wind speeds
As described earlier, prevailing and local winds are not spread evenly across the earth, which means that wind speeds also differ by region. In addition, the wind speed also increases with the altitude.
Nowadays, a yardstick used to determine the best locations for wind energy development is referred to as wind power density (WPD). It is a calculation relating to the effective force of the …
Shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the Earth's atmosphere. Wind shear can be broken down into vertical and horizontal components, with horizontal wind shear seen across weather frontsand near the coast, and vertical shear typically near the surface, though also at higher levels in the atmospher…
Boundaries
Cause
- Prevailing winds are winds that blow from a single direction over a specific area of the Earth. Areas where prevailing winds meet are called convergence zones. Generally, prevailing winds blow east-west rather than north-south. This happens because Earths rotation generates what is known as the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect makes wind system...
Climate
- The Earth contains five major wind zones: polar easterlies, westerlies, horse latitudes, trade winds, and the doldrums. The horse latitudes are a narrow zone of warm, dry climates between westerlies and the trade winds. Horse latitudes are about 30 and 35 degrees north and south. Many deserts, from the rainless Atacama of South America to the arid Kalahari of Africa, are par…
Setting
- Polar easterlies are dry, cold prevailing winds that blow from the east. They emanate from the polar highs, areas of high pressure around the North and South Poles. Polar easterlies flow to low-pressure areas in sub-polar regions.
Environment
- Westerlies have an enormous impact on ocean currents, especially in the Southern Hemisphere. Driven by westerlies, the powerful Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) rushes around the continent (from west to east) at about 4 kilometers per hour (2.5 miles per hour). In fact, another name for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the West Wind Drift. The ACC is the largest ocean …
Significance
- Trade winds are the powerful prevailing winds that blow from the east across the tropics. Trade winds are generally very predictable. They have been instrumental in the history of exploration, communication, and trade. Ships relied on trade winds to establish quick, reliable routes across the vast Atlantic and, later, Pacific Oceans. Even today, shipping depends on trade winds and th…
Discovery
- In 1947, Norwegian explorer Thor Hyerdahl and a small crew used trade winds to travel from the coast of Peru to the coral reefs of French Polynesia, more than 6,920 kilometers (4,300 miles), in a sail-powered raft. The expedition, named after the raft (Kon-Tiki) aimed to prove that ancient mariners could have used predictable trade winds to explore wide stretches of the Pacific.
Effects
- Besides ships and rainfall, trade winds can also carry particles of dust and sand for thousands of kilometers. Particles from Saharan sand and dust storms can blow across islands in the Caribbean Sea and the U.S. state of Florida, more than 8,047 kilometers (5,000 miles) away. Dust storms in the tropics can be devastating for the local community. Valuable topsoil is blown awa…
Risks
- Wind traveling at different speeds, different altitudes, and over water or land can cause different types of patterns and storms.
Formation
- Jet streams are geostrophic winds that form near the boundaries of air masses with different temperatures and humidity. The rotation of the Earth and its uneven heating by the sun also contribute to the formation of high-altitude jet streams. These tropical storms have a spiral shape. The spiral (swirling counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Souther…
Overview
- A hurricane is a giant, spiraling tropical storm that can pack wind speeds of over 257 kph (160 mph) and unleash more than 9 trillion liters (2.4 trillion gallons) of rain. These same tropical storms are known as hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean, and typhoons in the western Pacific Ocean.
Naming
- When a tropical depression speeds up to 63-117 kph (39-73 mph), it is known as a tropical storm, and is given a name. Meteorologists name the storms in alphabetical order, and alternate with female and male names.
Impact
- When a storm reaches 119 kph (74 mph), it becomes a hurricane and is rated from 1 to 5 in severity on the Saffir Simpson scale. A Category 5 hurricane is the strongest storm possible on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Winds of a Category 5 blow at 252 kph (157 mph). Hurricane Ethel, the strongest hurricane in recorded history, roared across the Gulf of Mexico in September 1960. Wi…
Safety
- The best defense against a hurricane is an accurate forecast that gives people time to get out of its way. The National Hurricane Center issues hurricane watches for storms that may endanger communities, and hurricane warnings for storms that will reach land within 24 hours.