Upper Air Charts

Any time there is a rapid change in a particular weather element, we will say the "gradient" is large. It is near these large gradients where the weather is most active.

A common example is found near cold fronts. The change in air pressure is typically rapid near a cold front, and, therefore, the pressure gradient is large. The greater the pressure gradient is near a front, the stronger the wind. This is also true for the upper atmosphere.

While the information provided by a Skew-T chart is invaluable, it can only tell us what is happening in the atmosphere at that location. To paint a complete picture of the atmosphere as a whole, we need to view radiosonde data from many upper air observations.

We do this by creating constant pressure charts that let us see changes and gradients in atmospheric conditions across the country and around the world.

A sample 500 millibar upper air chart. The gradient is the largest where the brown lines are closest together.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from NOAA. Published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and, as a work of the United States government, in the public domain; material credited to others is left out.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.