VALLEY CLIMATES
What you need to know:
-
Slope aspect: definition, impact on the distribution of temperature and impact of human activities
Development of: anabatic winds, katabatic winds, inversion or thermal belt, frost pockets, radiation
fog. (Be able to draw sketches of katabatic and anabatic winds)
Influence on human Activities: settlement and farming
SLOPE ASPECT
Slope aspect is the angle in which the sun’s rays strike a slope. This has an important effect on temperature.
page 106 in text book
A microclimate is the climate of a local area e.g a valley climate
A valley is an elongated area often running between hills or mountains.
Anabatic winds (valley winds)
are winds that blow up the
length of the valley during the
day.
Katabatic winds (mountain
winds) are winds that blow
down the length of a valley at
night.
Upslope winds blow up the
sides of a valley during the day
Downslope winds blow during
down the sides of a valley
during the night.
anabatic
Katabatic
Thermal belt
A- THERMAL BELT
B- FROST POCKETS
Frost pockets form under temperatures below freezing points, therefore under zero degrees
celcious
cde
Radiation Fog
In your notes list the influence of local climates on vegetation and farming as well as
human settlement (page 110)