Editing Convection cell (section)

==Within the Earth's troposphere==

===Thunderstorms===
[[File:Thunderstorm formation.jpg|thumb|500px|Stages of a thunderstorm's life.]]
{{see also|Cloud|Thunderstorm}}
Warm air has a lower density than cool air, so warm air rises within cooler air,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/civilengineersp00fryegoog |title=Civil engineers' pocket book: a reference-book for engineers, contractors|author=Albert Irvin Frye|page=[https://archive.org/details/civilengineersp00fryegoog/page/n510 462]|publisher=D. Van Nostrand Company|year=1913|accessdate=2009-08-31}}</ref> similar to [[hot air balloon]]s.<ref>{{cite book
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ssO_19TRQ9AC&dq=Kongming+balloon&pg=PA112
| title = Ancient Chinese Inventions
| author =  Yikne Deng
| publisher = Chinese International Press
| isbn=978-7-5085-0837-5
| year=2005
| pages = 112–13
| accessdate = 2009-06-18}}</ref>  Clouds form as relatively warmer air carrying moisture rises within cooler air. As the moist air rises, it cools, causing some of the [[water vapor]] in the rising packet of air to [[condensation|condense]].<ref>{{cite web|author=FMI|year=2007|url=http://www.zamg.ac.at/docu/Manual/SatManu/main.htm?/docu/Manual/SatManu/CMs/FgStr/backgr.htm|title=Fog And Stratus – Meteorological Physical Background|publisher=Zentralanstalt für Meteorologie und Geodynamik|accessdate=2009-02-07}}</ref>  When the moisture condenses, it releases energy known as the [[latent heat]] of vaporisation, which allows the rising packet of air to cool less than its surrounding air,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/stormworldhurric00moon |url-access=registration |title=Storm world: hurricanes, politics, and the battle over global warming|author=Chris C. Mooney|page=[https://archive.org/details/stormworldhurric00moon/page/20 20]|isbn=978-0-15-101287-9|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|year=2007|accessdate=2009-08-31}}</ref> continuing the cloud's ascension. If enough [[Convective available potential energy|instability]] is present in the atmosphere, this process will continue long enough for [[Cumulonimbus|cumulonimbus clouds]] to form, which support lightning and thunder.  Generally, thunderstorms require three conditions to form:  moisture, an unstable air mass, and a lifting force (heat).

All thunderstorms, regardless of type, go through three stages: a 'developing stage', a 'mature stage', and a 'dissipating stage'.<ref name="Extreme Weather">{{cite book |title=Extreme Weather |author=Michael H. Mogil |year=2007 |publisher=Black Dog & Leventhal Publisher |location=New York |isbn=978-1-57912-743-5 |pages=210–211 }}<!--|accessdate=2009-08-08--></ref>  The average thunderstorm has a {{convert|24|km|mi|abbr=on}} diameter.<ref name="Folger2011">{{cite book |author=Peter Folger |title=Severe Thunderstorms and Tornadoes in the United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PB0U26iYawwC&pg=PA16 |date=10 April 2011 |publisher=DIANE Publishing |isbn=978-1-4379-8754-6| page=16}}</ref> Depending on the conditions present in the atmosphere, these three stages take an average of 30 minutes to go through.<ref name="tsbasics">{{cite web|url=http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/primer/tstorm/tst_basics.html|title=A Severe Weather Primer: Questions and Answers about Thunderstorms|author=National Severe Storms Laboratory|publisher=[[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]]|date=2006-10-15|accessdate=2009-09-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090825000832/http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/primer/tstorm/tst_basics.html|archive-date=2009-08-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Adiabatic processes===
Heating caused by the compression of descending air is responsible for such winter phenomena as the [[chinook wind|chinook]] (as it is known in western North America) or the [[Foehn wind|Föhn]] (in the Alps).
[[File:Granulation Quiet Sun SST 25May2017.webm|left|thumb|Movie of the solar photosphere observed with the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope (SST) on La Palma, Spain. The movie shows solar granulation which is a result of convective motions of bubbles of hot gas that rise from the solar interior. When these bubbles reach the surface, the gas cools and flows down again in the darker lanes between the bright cells. In these so-called intergranular lanes, we can also see small bright points and more extended bright elongated structures. These are regions with strong magnetic fields.]]