Editing Anabatic wind

{{Short description|Warm wind that blows up a steep slope}}
An '''anabatic wind''', from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''[[wikt:anabasis|anabatos]]'', verbal of ''anabainein'' meaning "moving upward", is a warm wind which blows up a steep slope or [[mountain]] side, driven by heating of the slope through [[insolation]].<ref>[http://www.knmi.nl/~koek/glossary.html Marine Meteorological Glossary] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081211112917/http://www.knmi.nl/~koek/glossary.html |date=December 11, 2008 }}</ref><ref name=AMS>{{Cite web |url=http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/browse?p=49&s=A |title=American Meteorology Society Glossary |access-date=2009-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226045000/http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/browse?s=a&p=49 |archive-date=2009-02-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is also known as '''upslope flow'''. These winds typically occur during the daytime in calm sunny weather. A [[hill]] or mountain top will be [[heat transfer|radiatively]] warmed by the [[Sun]] which in turn [[heat]]s the [[air]] just above it.  Air at a similar [[altitude]] over an adjacent [[valley]] or [[plain]] does not get warmed so much because of the greater distance to the ground below it.

The air over the hill top is now warmer than the air at a similar altitude around it and will rise through [[convection]].  This creates a lower pressure region into which the air at the bottom of the slope flows, causing the wind. It is common for the air rising from the tops of large mountains to reach a height where it cools [[adiabatic process|adiabatically]] to below its [[dew point]] and forms [[cumulus cloud]]s.  These can then produce [[rain]] or even [[thunderstorm]]s.<ref name=AMS/>

Anabatic winds are particularly useful to soaring [[Glider (sailplane)|glider]] pilots who can use them to increase the aircraft's altitude. Anabatic winds can be detrimental to the maximum downhill speed of cyclists. Conversely, [[katabatic wind]]s are down-slope winds, frequently produced at night by the opposite effect, the air near to the ground losing heat to it faster than air at a similar altitude over adjacent low-lying land.

== See also ==
* [[Mountain breeze and valley breeze]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anabatic Wind}}
[[Category:Gliding technology]]
[[Category:Wind]]


{{wind-stub}}