4 TYPES OF TEMPERATURE INVERSION
Temperature inversion is a condition in which the temperature of the atmosphere increases with altitude in contrast to the normal decrease with altitude. When temperature inversion occurs, cold air underlies warmer air at higher altitudes. There are four kinds of temperature inversions: ground, turbulence, subsidence, and frontal. A ground inversion develops when air is cooled by contact with a colder surface until it becomes cooler than the overlying atmosphere; this occurs most often on clear nights, when the ground cools off rapidly by radiation . If the temperature of surface air drops below its dew point, fog may result. Topography greatly affects the magnitude of ground inversions. If the land is rolling or hilly, the cold air formed on the higher land surfaces tends to drain into the hollows, producing a larger and thicker inversion above low ground and little or none above higher elevations. A turbulence inversion often forms when quiescent air overlies turbulent...