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:
- Turbulence fundamentally arises from two root causes: buoyancy (e.g., thermals, convective storms) and friction (e.g., mechanical interaction with ground, jet stream shear).
- Convective turbulence, driven by unstable air and storms, can be extreme, with predictive tools like CAPE aiding assessment of updraft and downdraft strength, especially critical during takeoff and landing near thunderstorms.
- Mechanical turbulence encompasses ground-level friction, mountain waves that can propagate high into the atmosphere and break, and clear air turbulence (CAT) primarily linked to jet stream shear or mountain wave breaking.
- Wake turbulence, a localized hazard created by other aircraft's wingtip vortices, requires pilots to maintain awareness and separation, particularly during takeoff and landing phases.
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