what are the two main jet streams in each hemisphere course hero

by Loyal Stehr PhD 4 min read

two Each hemisphere has two primary jet streams — a polar and a subtropical. The polar jet streams form between the latitudes of 50 and 60 degrees north and south of the equator, and the subtropical jet stream is closer to the equator and takes shape at latitudes of 20 to 30 degrees.

Full Answer

How many jet streams are there in the northern hemisphere?

At most times in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, there are two jet streams: a subtropical jet stream centered at about 30 degrees latitude and a polar-front jet stream whose position varies with the boundary between polar and temperate air.

What are the two main types of jet streams?

Two main types of jet streams can be observed, the weaker subtropical jets and polar jets. Both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres each have a subtropical jet and a polar jet. Typically, a jet stream could a few hundred miles wide and less than three miles in vertical thickness.

Where do jet streams form in the atmosphere?

During the Northern Hemisphere summer, easterly jets can form in tropical regions, typically where dry air encounters more humid air at high altitudes. Low-level jets also are typical of various regions such as the central United States. There are also jet streams in the thermosphere.

What drives the jet stream on other planets?

On other planets, internal heat rather than solar heating drives their jet streams. The Polar jet stream forms near the interface of the Polar and Ferrel circulation cells; the subtropical jet forms near the boundary of the Ferrel and Hadley circulation cells.

Are the two main jet streams in each hemisphere?

At most times in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, there are two jet streams: a subtropical jet stream centered at about 30 degrees latitude and a polar-front jet stream whose position varies with the boundary between polar and temperate air.

What are the types of jet streams?

Jet streams are narrow bands of strong wind that generally blow from west to east all across the globe. Earth has four primary jet streams: two polar jet streams, near the north and south poles, and two subtropical jet streams closer to the equator.

What are the two main jet streams that impact the US?

The two jet streams that directly affect our weather in the continental US are the polar jet and the subtropical jet. They are responsible for transporting the weather systems that affect us. The polar front is the boundary between the cold North Pole air and the warm equatorial air.

What are the two main branches of the jet stream in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres quizlet?

The polar jet streams form between the latitudes of 50 and 60 degrees north and south of the equator, and the subtropical jet stream is closer to the equator and takes shape at latitudes of 20 to 30 degrees.

Are jet streams found in Southern Hemisphere?

Jet streams occur in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The actual appearance of jet streams result from the complex interaction between many variables - such as the location of high and low pressure systems, warm and cold air, and seasonal changes.

What are jet streams short answer?

Jet streams are bands of strong wind that generally blow from west to east all across the globe. These are relatively narrow bands of strong wind in the upper levels of the atmosphere.

What are jet streams quizlet?

Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow air currents found in the upper atmosphere or in troposphere of some planets, including Earth.

What are the jet streams What is the significance of the jet streams?

Jets streams play a key role in determining the weather because they usually separate colder air and warmer air. Jet streams generally push air masses around, moving weather systems to new areas and even causing them to stall if they have moved too far away.

What differences might you expect between the southern and northern hemisphere jet streams?

Jet streams are stronger in winter in the northern and southern hemispheres, because that's when air temperature differences that drive them tend to be most pronounced. The polar-front jet stream forms at about 60 degrees latitude in both hemispheres, while the subtropical jet stream forms at about 30 degrees.

Where are jet streams found Brainly?

Solution: Jet streams are a narrow belt of high altitude (above 12,000 m) westerly winds in the troposphere. Science.

Where do you find the jet stream?

Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth. On Earth, the main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds (flowing west to east).

Why do the polar jet streams form above the polar front?

Upper-level air flowing poleward from higher pressure towards lower pressure is deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere (or to the left in the Southern Hemisphere). The result is a jet stream flowing generally towards the east, parallel to, and above the polar front.

What type of jet streams are the strongest?

Overview. The strongest jet streams are the polar jets, at 9–12 km (5.6–7.5 mi; 30,000–39,000 ft) above sea level, and the higher altitude and somewhat weaker subtropical jets at 10–16 km (6.2–9.9 mi; 33,000–52,000 ft). The Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere each have a polar jet and a subtropical jet.

What is easterly and westerly jet stream?

Western and eastern jets flow to north & south of Himalayas respectively. The eastern jet becomes powerful and is stationed at 15° N latitude. The easterly winds become very active in the upper troposphere and they are associated with westerly winds in the lower troposphere (south-west monsoon winds).

Where are jet streams found?

Jet streams are fast flowing, relatively narrow air currents found in the atmosphere around 10 kilometers above the surface of the Earth. They form at the boundaries of adjacent air masses with significant differences in temperature, such as the polar region and the warmer air to the south.

What is the polar jet stream?

polar front jet stream, also called polar front jet or midlatitude jet stream, a belt of powerful upper-level winds that sits atop the polar front. The winds are strongest in the tropopause, which is the upper boundary of the troposphere, and move in a generally westerly direction in midlatitudes.

What is the boundary between the turbulent troposphere and the calm, cold stratosphere called?

The boundary between the turbulent troposphere and the calm, cold stratosphere is called the tropopause. Jet streams travel in the tropopause. Jet Stream. Jet streams are some of the strongest winds in the atmosphere.

What is the boundary between the stratosphere and the troposphere?

troposphere. Noun. lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere, extending from the surface to about 16 kilometers (10 miles) above.

How high are jet streams?

Jet streams are currents of air high above the Earth. They move eastward at altitudes of about 8 to 15 kilometers (5 to 9 miles). They form where large temperature differences exist in the atmosphere.

What is the name of the gas that is found in the atmosphere?

region in Earth's atmosphere between the stratosphere and the thermosphere, about 50-80 kilometers (31-50 miles) above the Earth's surface. methane. Noun. chemical compound that is the basic ingredient of natural gas.

What happens to the air when the Earth is heated?

As the Earth is heated, it warms the air just above it. The warmed air expands and becomes lighter than the surrounding air. It rises, creating a warm air current. Cooler, heavier air then pushes in to replace the warm air, forming a cool air current. Jet streams are air currents in the highest part of the atmosphere.

What is jet stream?

A jet stream is a very cold, fast-moving wind found high in the atmosphere.

How far above the surface of the Earth is the atmosphere?

level of Earth's atmosphere, extending from 10 kilometers (6 miles) to 50 kilometers (31 miles) above the surface of the Earth.

What are the consequences of thermal wind?

The balance of forces acting on an atmospheric air parcel in the vertical direction is primarily between the gravitational force acting on the mass of the parcel and the buoyancy force, or the difference in pressure between the top and bottom surfaces of the parcel. Any imbalance between these forces results in the acceleration of the parcel in the imbalance direction: upward if the buoyant force exceeds the weight, and downward if the weight exceeds the buoyancy force. The balance in the vertical direction is referred to as hydrostatic. Beyond the tropics, the dominant forces act in the horizontal direction, and the primary struggle is between the Coriolis force and the pressure gradient force. Balance between these two forces is referred to as geostrophic. Given both hydrostatic and geostrophic balance, one can derive the thermal wind relation: the vertical gradient of the horizontal wind is proportional to the horizontal temperature gradient. If two air masses, one cold and dense to the North and the other hot and less dense to the South, are separated by a vertical boundary and that boundary should be removed, the difference in densities will result in the cold air mass slipping under the hotter and less dense air mass. The Coriolis effect will then cause poleward-moving mass to deviate to the East, while equatorward-moving mass will deviate toward the west. The general trend in the atmosphere is for temperatures to decrease in the poleward direction. As a result, winds develop an eastward component and that component grows with altitude. Therefore, the strong eastward moving jet streams are in part a simple consequence of the fact that the Equator is warmer than the North and South poles.

Why are polar jets formed?

One factor that contributes to the creation of a concentrated polar jet is the undercutting of sub-tropical air masses by the more dense polar air masses at the polar front. This causes a sharp north-south pressure (south-north potential vorticity) gradient in the horizontal plane, an effect which is most significant during double Rossby wave breaking events. At high altitudes, lack of friction allows air to respond freely to the steep pressure gradient with low pressure at high altitude over the pole. This results in the formation of planetary wind circulations that experience a strong Coriolis deflection and thus can be considered 'quasi-geostrophic'. The polar front jet stream is closely linked to the frontogenesis process in midlatitudes, as the acceleration/deceleration of the air flow induces areas of low/high pressure respectively, which link to the formation of cyclones and anticyclones along the polar front in a relatively narrow region.

What causes jet streams?

Jet streams are the product of two factors: the atmospheric heating by solar radiation that produces the large-scale Polar, Ferrel, and Hadley circulation cells, and the action of the Coriolis force acting on those moving masses. The Coriolis force is caused by the planet's rotation on its axis.

How does jet stream affect weather?

The jet stream moves from West to East bringing changes of weather. Meteorologists now understand that the path of jet streams affects cyclonic storm systems at lower levels in the atmosphere, and so knowledge of their course has become an important part of weather forecasting. For example, in 2007 and 2012, Britain experienced severe flooding as a result of the polar jet staying south for the summer.

How wide is a jet stream?

The width of a jet stream is typically a few hundred kilometres or miles and its vertical thickness often less than five kilometres (16,000 feet). Meanders (Rossby Waves) of the Northern Hemisphere's polar jet stream developing (a), (b); then finally detaching a "drop" of cold air (c).

How fast can a jet stream travel?

The polar jet stream can travel at speeds greater than 180 km/h (110 mph). Here, the fastest winds are coloured red; slower winds are blue. Clouds along a jet stream over Canada. Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow, meandering air currents in the atmospheres of some planets, including Earth.

What is the strongest jet stream?

The strongest jet streams are the polar jets, at 9–12 km (30,000–39,000 ft) above sea level, and the higher altitude and somewhat weaker subtropical jets at 10–16 km (33,000–52,000 ft). The Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere each have a polar jet and a subtropical jet.

How do polar jets form?

They are formed when air masses of varying temperatures encounter, and the ensuing pressure difference causes strong winds. The resulting wind does not drift instantly from the cold region to the hot region, but is diverted and flows along the boundary of the two air masses. The speed of the wind is highest where the temperature difference is greater and usually surpasses 60 miles per hour. The polar jets often intrude into mid-latitudes and strongly affect aviation and weather patterns due to their low altitude. In the Northern Hemisphere, the polar jet moves over Asia, Europe, and North America and the oceans in between. In the Southern Hemisphere, they most often circulate around Antarctica throughout the year and gradually migrate northwards as the hemisphere warms and heads south as it cools. In the north, the polar jet stream is more is stronger, has a lower altitude, and covers many countries in the northern hemisphere.

How are subtropical jets formed?

They are formed as a result of separating large air masses. This type of jet streams separates tropical air from mid-latitudinal air, and therefore their speed and temperature are not as extreme as polar jets because the temperature difference between the air masses is not as extreme. These jets affect precipitation and cloud cover in the regions it flows over.

How does jet stream affect weather?

In meteorology, it is now understood that jet streams affect storm systems at lower atmospheric altitudes levels. Therefore, the study of their flow is now a significant part of weather forecasting. In aviation, it has been discovered that flying at the altitude and in the direction of the jet stream makes for faster and consequently cheaper flying. The opposite also applies when flying against the jet stream and therefore helps airline plan their flights accordingly. Jet streams are also associated with a phenomenon known as clear-air turbulence which is a result of the wind shear caused by jet streams. This phenomenon can cause aircraft to plunge, and therefore pilots have to factor it during flights to avoid fatal accidents.

Where are jet streams located?

Jet streams can be located in the atmospheres of some planets which include the earth, and they are narrow and fast flowing air currents. The path of a jet stream tends to adopt a meandering shape as the current can be observed swinging from side to side. These streams are dynamic in their motion and may begin, end, break into multiple parts, merge into a single stream, or course in different directions. The common jet streams on earth are found near the altitude of the tropopause (the upper boundary of the troposphere) and flow from west to east. Two main types of jet streams can be observed, the weaker subtropical jets and polar jets. Both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres each have a subtropical jet and a polar jet. Typically, a jet stream could a few hundred miles wide and less than three miles in vertical thickness.