How does topography affect climate

Water that does soak in drains through the soil rapidly, taking some of the soluble plant nutrients with it, leaving the soils dry and infertile. Adding to the differences, in many cases convex slopes are at higher elevation than nearby concave slopes, and are thus more exposed to wind, sun, and lightning strikes.

Concave slopes are more likely to be at lower elevations, closer to the water table and groundwater seeps and springs that contain dissolved minerals that help plants grow. In general, hilltops and ridgetops are likely to be convex, while ravines and toeslopes are likely to be concave.

For all these reasons, convex slopes tend to have dry, infertile, and shallow soil that create challenging conditions for plants. As it rises, it cools and the water molecules within condense--a process known as adiabatic cooling. The condensing water vapor forms clouds and water droplets, resulting in precipitation. The side of a mountain range that receives wind and air masses, called the windward side, experiences large amounts of precipitation.

An example in the United States is Seattle, Washington, which experiences high levels of precipitation because it's on the windward side of the Cascade Mountains. Just as mountain ranges help create large amounts of precipitation on windward sides, there's usually little precipitation on the opposite, or leeward, sides because the air masses moving over the mountains have dropped moisture on the windward side of the range.

Leeward sides of mountain ranges are said to be in a "rain shadow. How Does Topography Influence Weather? Students love to watch the water run off the mountains. Let each child be a rain cloud. Explain that a cloud is heavy when it is wet, too heavy to get over the mountain. It cannot get lighter and cannot go over the mountain. By this time there is very little water left for the other side of the mountain.

If the mountain is high enough there will be a desert on the other side. Strong winds can result, such as the powerful and unseasonably warm Chinook winds that flow down the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains.

In arctic regions, extremely dense dry air is pulled off the edges of ice sheets by gravity. These forceful rushing winds are known as katabatic or gravity winds. Mountain passes also act as natural funnels and increase wind speeds. In California, Santa Ana winds blowing off the deserts are enhanced by these breaks.

Wind blows more strongly when forced by topography through a narrow opening, and many wind farms can be found in these locations. Land at higher elevations, such as mountains or plateaus, are naturally cooler due to a phenomenon known as the environmental lapse rate. First observed by the explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, air cools at 3. This is the equivalent of traveling hundreds of miles north, and creates a complex Highland climate with great diversity.

The orientation of slopes in relation to the sun has a profound effect on climate. In the northern hemisphere, south-facing slopes are sunnier and support entirely different ecological communities than north-facing slopes.