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katabatic wind

File:מכתש_רמון_-_גלישת_עננים_(cropped).jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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katabatic wind

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Also known as drainage wind, fall wind

wind that carries high density air down a slope

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Plateau-cooled air falls into the Makhtesh Ramon, traced by radiation fog, just after dawn. Radiative cooling of the desert highlands chills the air, making it more dense than the air over the lowlands. Cooler air can also hold less water vapour; it condenses out as tiny fog droplets, which re-evaporate as the air warms. Here, the falling air is warming adiabatically, and so the fog re-evaporates as it falls. Katabatic wind in Antarctica

A katabatic wind (named from Ancient Greek κατάβασις (katábasis) 'descent') is a downslope wind caused by the flow of an elevated, high-density air mass into a lower-density air mass below. The spelling catabatic is also used. Since air density is strongly dependent on temperature, the high-density air mass is usually cooler, and the katabatic winds are relatively cool or cold.

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