An airmass is a large body of air with relatively homogeneous temperature, humidity, and lapse rate across its horizontal extent. Especially in the midlatitudes, large seasonal and daily changes of weather result from alternating dominance by airmasses derived from polar, subtropical, and midlatitude source regions. These airmasses, which typically are hundreds of miles wide, are responsible for spells of weather, such as a cold polar outbreak in winter or a hot, humid run of days in summer. Airmass climatology generally will describe the types of airmasses found in an area, will classify them according to their characteristics, and will determine their seasonal or annual frequency of occurrence.
Airmass climatology grew out of the so-called “Norwegian” school of synoptic weather analysis. Bergeron (1928)formulated the concept of the airmass in the 1920s and proposed that a study be made of airmass characteristics and frequencies as a means of explaining recurring weather patterns....
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Corcoran, W.T. (1987). Airmass climatology . In: Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30749-4_6
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