Wind
hideWind is the flow of air or other gases that compose an atmosphere (including that of the planet Earth). On Earth and within other planetary atmospheres, wind consists of air molecules in motion. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space. Differences in density between two air masses lead to wind. Winds are commonly classified by their spatial scale, their speed, the types of forces that cause them, the geographic regions in which they occur, and their effect. While wind is often a standalone weather phenomenon, it can also occur as part of a storm system, most notably in a cyclone. While winds on Earth can be strong, the strongest winds within a planet in our solar system lie on Neptune and Saturn.
Winds are plotted on surface weather analyses indicating the direction the wind is blowing from as well as its strength, and over much of the globe wind speeds are measured over a ten-minute time frame, with the United States and India using different averaging intervals. Shorter duration winds, such as wind gusts, exceed the minimum value over the observed time frame and can cause substantial damage to power lines and suspension bridges. Winds with an intermediate duration, which sharply increase and last for a minute are termed squalls. Long-duration wind speeds have various names associated with their average strength, such as breeze, gale, storm, hurricane, and typhoon. Wind occurs on a range of scales, from local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting tens of minutes, to global winds resulting from the difference in absorption of solar energy between the climate zones on Earth. The two major driving factors of large scale atmospheric circulation are the differential heating between the equator and the poles, which causes the jet stream and the associated climatological mid-latitude westerlies, polar easterlies, and the trade winds, and the rotation of the planet (Coriolis effect), which causes the circular motion of air around areas of high and low pressure. Within the tropics, thermal low circulations over terrain and high plateaus can drive monsoon circulations. In areas where winds tend to be light, the sea breeze/land breeze cycle is the most important to the prevailing wind; in areas that have variable terrain, mountain and valley breezes dominate the wind pattern.
In human civilization, wind has inspired mythology, influenced the events of history, expanded the range of transport and warfare, and provided a power source for mechanical work, electricity, and recreation. Wind has been used to steer sailing ships across vast oceans. By air, hot air balloons use the wind to take short trips. Airships have historically been used for longer trips, but nowadays are used for a variety of monitoring efforts such as during public sporting events and drug trafficking efforts. Wind can be dangerous, as areas of wind shear caused by various weather phenomena can lead to dangerous situations for airplanes. When winds become strong, trees and man-made structures are damaged or destroyed.
Winds can shape landforms, via a variety of aeolian processes such as the formation of fertile soils, such as loess, and by erosion. Dust from large deserts can be moved large distances from their source region by the prevailing winds. Winds that are accelerated by rough topography and associated with dust outbreaks have been assigned regional names in various parts of the world due to their significant effects on those regions. Wind helps to spread wildfires. Nature uses wind to help disperse seeds from various plants, in order to enable the survival of those plant species, as well as flying insect populations. When combined with cold temperatures, wind has a negative impact on livestock. Wind impacts animal food stores, as well as their hunting and defensive strategies.
For more information about Wind, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with wind
The Stars My Destination
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 10, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (23) |
2
The Voyager spacecraft are now in the outermost layer of the heliosphere, traveling toward interstellar space - the first man-made spacecraft to travel such a vast distance from Earth.
Santa's Sleigh: Researcher Explains Science Behind St. Nick's Christmas Magic
Dec 02, 2009 |
4.9 / 5 (19) |
7
(PhysOrg.com) -- Santa skeptics have long considered St. Nick’s ability to deliver toys to the world’s good girls and boys in the course of one night a scientific impossibility. But new research shows that ...
Battery Research Aims To Store Renewable Energy
Nov 19, 2009 |
4.1 / 5 (13) |
6
The biggest chemical battery in the United States is located near Interstate 90 in the small town of Luverne, Minn. The 80 ton device -- the size of two tractor-trailers stacked on top of each other -- stores ...
China harnesses mountain wind power
Nov 22, 2009 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
3
In the mountains above the southwestern Chinese town of Dali, dozens of new wind turbines dot the landscape -- a symbol of the country's sky-high ambitions for clean, green energy.
A Tale of Planetary Woe (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 11, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (11) |
5
Once upon a time — roughly four billion years ago — Mars was warm and wet, much like Earth. Liquid water flowed on the Martian surface in long rivers that emptied into shallow seas. A thick atmosphere blanketed ...
Maps Unveil the Source of Starburst Galaxy's Winds
Nov 18, 2009 |
5 / 5 (8) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- A research group at Kyoto University has discovered that shocks are the primary energy sources that excite the galactic wind region of starburst galaxy NGC 253. Their images of the center ...
Generating electricity from air flow
Nov 22, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (11) |
2
A group of researchers at the City College of New York is developing a new way to generate power for planes and automobiles based on materials known as piezoelectrics, which convert the kinetic energy of motion into electricity. ...
NJIT receives funding to improve Big Bear Telescope, study solar energy
Nov 20, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (6) |
1
NJIT researchers are at work on many scientific and technological frontiers. The National Science Foundation has recently provided support that totals nearly $4.3 million for the diverse efforts of the following ...
Harnessing the power of salt, Norway tries osmotic power
Nov 23, 2009 |
4.2 / 5 (6) |
4
After wind, sun, currents and tides, a company is preparing to make clean electricity by harnessing another natural phenomenon, the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater.
Warmer means windier on world's biggest lake
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Nov 15, 2009 |
3.8 / 5 (6) |
0
Rising water temperatures are kicking up more powerful winds on Lake Superior, with consequences for currents, biological cycles, pollution and more on the world's largest lake and its smaller brethren.
Nuclear weapons: Predicting the unthinkable
Nov 22, 2009 |
3 / 5 (7) |
5
If a nuclear weapon were detonated in a metropolitan area, how large would the affected area be? Where should first responders first go? According to physicist Fernando Grinstein, we have some initial understanding to address ...
On the Crest of Wave Energy
Nov 19, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (4) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- The ocean is a potentially vast source of electric power, yet as engineers test new technologies for capturing it, the devices are plagued by battering storms, limited efficiency, and the ...
Space technology optimises windmill efficiency
Dec 07, 2009 |
3 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- A French start-up company from ESA's Business Incubation Centre in the Netherlands has developed a small instrument to measure wind speed and direction from the ground up to heights of 200 ...
NASA's TRMM satellite sees Tropical Storm Cleo form in southern Indian Ocean
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 08, 2009 |
2 / 5 (3) |
1
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite captured the birth of Tropical Storm Cleo in the southern Indian Ocean today, December 7.
NASA Assessing New Roles for Ailing QuikScat Satellite
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 24, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
1
(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA mission managers are assessing options for future operations of the venerable QuikScat satellite following the age-related failure of a mechanism that spins the scatterometer antenna. ...
