What is turbulence on a plane? This is what causes it
There is no bias in the title provided.
Passengers on a flight may experience a rough part of a journey while in the air. But what is turbulence and what causes it?
To help you understand whatâs really going on when you feel turbulence on a plane, National Geographic has explained the key points.
What is turbulence?
Turbulence is a âviolent or unsteady movement of air or water, or of some other fluidâ, according to Oxford Languages.
@pilot_onthegram Why is it that we experience the worst turbulence when having nervous flyers on board đ© #pilotonthegram #turbulence #kingair ⏠original sound – Pilot_onthegram
What causes turbulence on a plane?
The National Geographic website explains that ârough air happens everywhere, from ground level to far above cruising altitude.â
Referring to the weather.gov website, National Geographic explains that âthe most common turbulence experienced by flyers has three common causes: mountains, jet streams, and storms.â
As air encounters mountains, it forms waves like the way the oceanâs wave crash on a beach.
Some air is able to pass the mountain smoothly but other air masses âcrowd against the mountains themselvesâ, giving them no other place to go than up.
The National Geographic website adds: âThese ‘mountain waves’Â can propagate as wide, gentle oscillations into the atmosphere, but they can also break up into many tumultuous currents, which we experience as turbulence.â
Jet streams and storms can also cause turbulence when youâre on a plane.
Best and worst airlines in the UK
Further to this, the Flightright website shares that âair vortices at lofty heightsâ are responsible for turbulence and making aircraft wobble.
The website adds: âThe vortices are particularly strong when the currents come from different directions. The collision of the air masses then causes additional air turbulence. Unfortunately, the pilots themselves cannot specifically avoid turbulence. After all, they cannot see them.
âFor this reason, the turbulence comes completely unexpectedly in most cases. However, since many of the turbulences are weak, this bothers only very few. In contrast to light air turbulence, there is also strong sudden turbulence. In this case, we speak of air pockets, because the aircraft falls into a kind of hole, so to speak because the air isnât sufficiently stable.â
It adds that experiencing turbulence while a thunderstorm occurs is âcompletely normalâ.
Recommended reading:
âThis is because two completely different air masses meet here. While warm air masses rise, the cold air masses sink. When these two collide, strong, jerky wobbling occurs. But turbulence also occurs independently of weather phenomena. For example, when the aircraft flies over mountains. This is because the differences in altitude cause air vortices to form.â
Dense cloud formations can also cause turbulence with Flightright explaining: âOnce again, temperature differences play a major role. These affect the air masses around the aircraft wings.
âSince experience shows that temperature differences are higher in summer than in winter, turbulence is more frequent at this time of year than in winter. In addition, the air is denser in summer than in winter. And thunderstorms are more frequentâ.
A new study suggests that regular exercise can help reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers found that individuals who engaged in physical activity at least three times a week were less likely to develop the condition compared to those who were sedentary. The study highlights the importance of staying active for brain health and overall well-being. Experts recommend incorporating regular exercise into daily routines to help prevent cognitive decline.
https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/24335318.turbulence-plane-causes/?ref=rss