Question

What is wind? Mention its different types.

Answer 1

Hint: Wind is the nothing but the natural movement of the air or any other gases in the atmosphere. And it can be different based on the own rotation of the Earth.

Complete answer:
In simple terms, the wind is nothing but moving air. The air movement is always from high pressure to low-pressure areas. There are different types of winds which can be broadly divided into:
Permanent Winds: The trade winds, westerlies and easterlies are the permanent winds. Throughout the year these winds blow constantly in a particular direction. Also known as “Prevailing winds or Planetary winds”.
Trade winds are also known as “tropical easterlies”. These are extremely steady winds that blow from subtropical high-pressure areas towards the equatorial low-pressure belt.

Westerlies are also known as Shrieking Sixties, Furious Fifties and Roaring Forties. These winds blow from the subtropical high-pressure belts towards sub-polar low-pressure belts. The westerlies of the Southern hemisphere are stronger and constant as compared to that of the Northern hemisphere.

Periodic Winds: Periodic winds, or seasonal winds, do not blow permanently like the planetary winds. They blow without fail at a certain time of the year or day. Seasonal winds change their direction periodically or deflect from their original path because of seasonal variations in temperature or pressure. The main cause of periodic winds is the unequal heating and cooling of the Earth’s surface. These winds change their direction periodically with the change in the seasons.

Following are the types of periodic winds:
> Monsoon winds: The Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Himalayan wall creates the temperature difference which forms the basis of monsoon in the Indian subcontinent.

> Land breeze: Winds blowing from land to sea, carrying no moisture but dry and warm.

> Sea breeze: Winds blowing from sea to land, carrying some moisture.
> Mountain and valley breeze: During the day the slopes of mountains are hot and air from the valley flows up the slopes. This is known as “Valley Breeze”. The pattern is reversed after the sunset and cold air slides down the mountain to the valley and is called “mountain breeze”.
> Local Winds: Local winds are unique to certain well-defined areas. They affect the local weather conditions of that place only. In different parts of the world, these winds are known by different names. For e.g., Loo, Harmattan, Foehn, and Chinook.

Note:
Wind energy has become one of the most important alternatives for the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources.
This energy source presents several benefits that make the most suitable technology for utility-scale projects.