With sunny skies and calm winds, it’s a surprise to reach cruise altitude and find a bumpy ride. Though computer modeling is beginning to overcome many limitations in turbulence prediction, the products aren’t always accurate and don’t convey the nature of the problem. So, it’s pretty important for pilots to be well versed in what causes turbulence. Fortunately we can distill it all to two root causes: buoyancy and friction. These are the building blocks of virtually all turbulence types.
Staying In One Piece
Key Takeaways:
- Despite advances in computer modeling, pilots need to understand turbulence's two fundamental root causes: buoyancy and friction.
- The article details several types of turbulence including convective (thermals, storms), mechanical (wind interacting with terrain, creating eddies and mountain waves), clear air (shear around the jet stream), and wake (aircraft wingtip vortices).
- Each turbulence type has distinct characteristics and indicators (e.g., CAPE for convective, terrain for mechanical, jet stream location for CAT) that pilots can use for prediction and avoidance.
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