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Convection
atmospheric motions in the vertical direction

In meteorology, convection refers primarily to atmospheric motions in the vertical direction. As the earth is heated by the sun, different surfaces absorb different amounts of energy and convection may occur where the surface heats up very rapidly. As the surface warms, it heats the overlying air, which gradually becomes less dense than the surrounding air and begins to rise.

The bubble of relatively warm air that rises upward from the surface is called a "thermal".


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Credits and Acknowledgments for WW2010.
Department of Atmospheric Sciences (DAS) at
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.