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In meteorology, an inversion (or temperature inversion) is a phenomenon in which a layer of warmer air overlies cooler air. Normally, air temperature gradually decreases as altitude increases, but this relationship is reversed in an inversion. [2] An inversion traps air pollution, such as smog, near the ground.
A marine layer is an air mass that develops over the surface of a large body of water, such as an ocean or large lake, in the presence of a temperature inversion. The inversion itself is usually initiated by the cooling effect caused when cold water on the surface of the ocean interacts with a comparatively warm air mass. [1]
A capping inversion occurs when there is a boundary layer with a normal temperature profile (warm air rising into cooler air) and the layer above that is an inversion layer (cooler air below warm air). Cloud formation from the lower layer is "capped" by the inversion layer.
This temperature inversion is the opposite of what is normally the case; air is usually warmer close to the surface, and cooler higher up. In calm weather, a layer of significantly warmer air can rest over colder dense air, forming an atmospheric duct which acts like a refracting lens, producing a series of both inverted and erect images.
The inversion layer must have just the right temperature gradient over the whole distance to make this possible. In the same way, ships that are so far away that they should not be visible above the geometric horizon may appear on or even above the horizon as superior mirages. [ 5 ]
Inversion layer may refer to one of the following: Inversion (meteorology) , a layer within which an atmospheric property is inverted, i.e., its change is deviated from the normal pattern Inversion layer (semiconductors) , a layer in a semiconductor material where the type of the majority carriers changes to its opposite under certain conditions
Interaction between the atmosphere, ice and ocean is confined to the atmospheric boundary layer, which is mainly influenced by surface characteristics. In polar regions, these are sea ice roughness and sea ice concentration, which greatly influence surface temperature distribution.
In calm weather, a layer of significantly warmer air may rest over colder dense air, forming an atmospheric duct that acts like a refracting lens, producing a series of both inverted and erect images. A Fata Morgana requires a duct to be present; thermal inversion alone is not enough to produce this kind of mirage.