EPOD - a service of USRA

The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.


Thermal Inversion from the Biellese Prealps

January 31, 2022

#01(1)

Photographer: Paolo Bardelli

Summary Authors: Paolo Bardelli; Cadan Cummings

These two images feature a thermal inversion that occurred on
October 26, 2021 in the autumn colored foothills of the Biellese
Alps. The valley is located between the Monte Rosa massif to the
north and the Po Valley to the south. Thermal inversions are
typical in this region during the autumn and winter due to the intense
and prolonged periods of high pressure created when colder air
layers near the land surface are trapped under warmer air layers being
heated by the Sun. This difference in pressure combined with colder
temperatures near the surface causes the air to drop below dew
point forming haze and permanent mist. Above 3,280 feet (1,000 meters)
elevation, the sky becomes clearer, and the temperature is decidedly
more pleasant, which is also due to the thermal inversion.

The terrain of the Po Valley further exacerbates the inversions because
it is closed in on the north by the Alps and partially by the
Apennines to the south. As a result, mist can stagnate for several
days in the region and only fades once either an atmospheric
perturbation occurs or a “barrage” situation is created north of the
Alps with the entry of hot and dry wind (also known as a foehn). In
the photos above, the Monviso mountain (12,600 ft / 3,841 m) stands
out on the horizon. From the northern slopes of this mountain rises the
Po River, the main river that crosses the Po Valley from west to east.
* Bielmonte, Province of Biella, Italy Coordinates: 45.662947,
8.086869

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Cloud Links

* Atmospheric Optics
* The Cloud Appreciation Society
* Cloud Atlas
* Color and Light in Nature

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