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Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. [1] [2] Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenced by nearby bodies of water, topography, and wind conditions.
This can occur when, for example, a warmer, less-dense air mass moves over a cooler, denser air mass. This type of inversion occurs in the vicinity of warm fronts, and also in areas of oceanic upwelling such as along the California coast in the United States. With sufficient humidity in the cooler layer, fog is typically present below the ...
Lastly, cool or dry air moving over warmer water will become more humid. As with daytime heating, the addition of moisture to the air increases its heat content and instability and helps set into motion those processes that lead to the formation of cloud or fog. [26]
The convective condensation level (CCL) represents the height (or pressure) where an air parcel becomes saturated when heated from below and lifted adiabatically due to buoyancy. In the atmosphere, assuming a constant water vapor mixing ratio, the dew point temperature (the temperature where the relative humidity is 100%) decreases with ...
In the air, the condensed water is called either fog or a cloud, depending on its altitude when it forms. If the temperature is below the dew point, and no dew or fog forms, the vapor is called supersaturated. This can happen if there are not enough particles in the air to act as condensation nuclei. [5]
Humid air is less dense than dry air because a molecule of water (m ≈ 18 Da) is less massive than either a molecule of nitrogen (m ≈ 28) or a molecule of oxygen (m ≈ 32). About 78% of the molecules in dry air are nitrogen (N 2). Another 21% of the molecules in dry air are oxygen (O 2). The final 1% of dry air is a mixture of other gases.
The decline in fog is generally attributed to climate change, and is concerning for the local ecology, for example the redwood trees. [12] Climate change contributes to the warming of our oceans, directly resulting in less fog as ocean water is not cold enough to mix with hot, moist air currents to create fog. [13]
A Santa Ana fog is a derivative phenomenon in which a ground fog settles in coastal Southern California at the end of a Santa Ana wind episode. When Santa Ana conditions prevail, with winds in the lower 2 to 3 kilometers (1.2 to 1.9 mi) of the atmosphere from the north through east, the air over the coastal basin is extremely dry, and this dry ...