Question

Which one of the following pairs of properties of typical air masses is correct?
A) Air Mass-Maritime Equatorial : Source Region-Warm oceans in the equatorial
zone
B) Air Mass-Maritime Polar: Source Region-Warm oceans in the tropical zone
C) Air Mass-Continental Tropical: Source Region- Less warm oceans in the
tropical zone
D) Air Mass- Continental Polar: Source Region- Moist oceans in the polar zone

Answer 1

Hint: In the horizontal plane, air masses have a reasonably consistent temperature and moisture content (but not uniform in vertical). Temperature and humidity parameters are used to classify air masses. The underlying surface qualities where air masses arise determine their properties.

Complete answer:
A huge volume of air in the atmosphere that is relatively uniform in temperature and moisture is referred to as an air mass. Air masses can stretch thousands of kilometres across the Earth's surface and reach up to 16 kilometres (10 miles) into the stratosphere.

Meteorologists classify air masses based on where they form on the planet. There are four types of air masses: arctic, tropical, polar, and equatorial.

Maritime Equatorial Air Masses are formed largely over sea at or near the Equator, and are thus known as such. (The few areas of land it covers are largely jungles with little exposed dry land.)

These air masses are hot and humid due to the surface and latitude over which they originate. The enormous amount of precipitation that falls over land in the region is due to the high moisture levels in the air mass.

Tropical rain forests and storms are nourished by warm, moist air masses that originate around the equator. EQUATORIAL air masses are those that originate near the equator, as indicated by the capital letter E. These are referred to as hot air masses.

Air Mass-Maritime Equatorial : Source Region-Warm oceans in the equatorial zone. Therefore the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note: Three letters are used to classify air masses.The first letter indicates the amount of moisture in the air, with c indicating continental air masses (dry) and m indicating maritime air masses (wet) (moist). M denotes monsoon, E denotes Equatorial, and S denotes superior air. T denotes tropical, P denotes polar, A denotes Arctic or Antarctic, M denotes monsoon, E denotes Equatorial, and S denotes superior air (adiabatically drying and warming air formed by significant downward motion in the atmosphere).