what is thermal inversion?

Answer 1

Thermal inversion occurs when a layer of warm air settles over a layer of cooler air that lies near the ground. The warm air holds down the cool air and prevents pollutants from rising and scattering

Answer 2

Generally in the troposphere, temperatures decrease with height. On occasion, you can get an increase in temperature with height and these are called temperature inversions. There are two main types, the radiation inversion and the subsidence inversion.

In the first, the ground cools overnight and cools the air in contact with it. This cools the air above that but it can lead to a situation where the air near the ground is colder than the air above it. This is the radiation inversion and is common around dawn.

In high pressure systems, air is descending. As the air descends it warms but it warms faster than the surrounding air. This leads to warmer air overlying cooler air and is a subsidence inversion. When subsidence inversions and radiation inversions exist at the same time - as they often do over Los Angeles and Sydney - pollutants from motor car exhausts get trapped. Photochemical smog occurs and lasts for days until a complete change of airmass occurs such as the passage of a front.

Answer 3

In meteorology, an inversion is a deviation from the normal change of an atmospheric property with altitude. It almost always refers to a temperature inversion, i.e., an increase in temperature with height, or to the layer within which such an increase occurs. [1]

An inversion can lead to pollution such as smog being trapped close to the ground, with possible adverse effects on health. An inversion can also suppress convection by acting as a "cap". If this cap is broken for any of several reasons, convection of any moisture present can then erupt into violent thunderstorms

Answer 4

thermal inversion is the increase in temperature as you increase altitude in the atmosphere. this occurs in the stratosphere as well as the thermosphere.