updrafts
Warm air columns
Updrafts are currents of air moving upward.
Warm air rises, creating updrafts that birds and gliders ride to gain altitude without expending energy: Hawks circled in the updraft.
Updrafts within storm clouds can be powerful enough to suspend hailstones, allowing them to grow larger before falling.
Rising effortlessly upward
- glidingEngineless aerial movement
- hang gliderPiloted fabric wing
- paragliderFoot-launched aircraft with fabric wing
- sailplaneEngineless soaring aircraft
thermals · lift · altitude · ridge lift · variometer · climb rate · circling · gaggle
Fluid's upward resistance
- convectionHeat transfer via motion
- warm airHeated gaseous atmosphere
- atmospheric pressureWeight of air above
- heat transferMovement of thermal energy
Heat transfer via motion
- cumulusDense, billowing cloud type
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
- atmosphereGaseous layer around planets
- buoyancyFluid's upward resistance
convergence · fronts · thunderstorms · cumulonimbus · wind shear · cloud formation · dew point · condensation
soaring
Rising effortlessly upward
- glidingEngineless aerial movement
- hang gliderPiloted fabric wing
- paragliderFoot-launched aircraft with fabric wing
sailplane · thermals · lift · altitude · ridge lift · variometer · climb rate · circling · gaggle · cloudbase
buoyancy
Fluid's upward resistance
- convectionHeat transfer via motion
- warm airHeated gaseous atmosphere
- atmospheric pressureWeight of air above
heat transfer · fluid dynamics · adiabatic cooling · expansion · ascent
convection
Heat transfer via motion
- cumulusDense, billowing cloud type
- instabilityTendency toward unpredictable change
- atmosphereGaseous layer around planets
buoyancy · convergence · fronts · thunderstorms · cumulonimbus · wind shear · cloud formation · dew point · condensation · supercells
eagles
Large predatory birds
storks · pelicans · frigatebirds · kettling · migration · raptors · circling · hunting · scavenging · wingspan
- meteorologyweather, rain, wind, snow, clouds
- windbreeze, wind, gale, gust, gusts
- convectionconvection, convection current, convection currents, convection cell, natural convection
- turbulencesevere turbulence, chop, bumps, eddies, vortices
- Aviation Weathervisibility, ceiling, cloud ceiling, ceiling height, turbulence
- Glider Terminologythermals, lift, ridge lift, kettling
updraftsdowndrafts
Descending air currents
downbursts · microbursts · subsidence · downwelling · wind shear
- thermal updraftsWarm air currents ascending