Air Mass A large body of air that take on the characteristics of the area over which it forms Two main characteristics Temperature Tropical (warm, hot) Polar (cool, cold) Humidity Maritime (moist) Continental (dry) Air mass modification – when an air mass moves, it changes to become more like the area to which is has moved

Air Mass Map Source: Earth Science – Geology, the Environment, and the Universe, Interactive Chalkboard, (NC Edition), Glencoe Science, McGraw-Hill Companies

Fronts Boundaries that form between air masses of different densities (temperature, pressure, and humidity) Four kinds Warm Cold Stationary Occluded See also - http://apollo.lsc.vsc.edu/classes/met130/notes/chapter11/index.html

Cold Front Source: Earth Science – Geology, the Environment, and the Universe, Interactive Chalkboard, (NC Edition), Glencoe Science, McGraw-Hill Companies

Warm Front Source: Earth Science – Geology, the Environment, and the Universe, Interactive Chalkboard, (NC Edition), Glencoe Science, McGraw-Hill Companies

Stationary Front Source: Earth Science – Geology, the Environment, and the Universe, Interactive Chalkboard, (NC Edition), Glencoe Science, McGraw-Hill Companies

Occluded Front Source: Earth Science – Geology, the Environment, and the Universe, Interactive Chalkboard, (NC Edition), Glencoe Science, McGraw-Hill Companies

Map symbols for fronts