University Aviation Management: Jet Streams Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of jet streams within the context of aviation management. It begins by defining jet streams as high-speed air currents and discusses their characteristics, including speed, location, and variability. The report then categorizes and describes the two primary types of jet streams: the polar jet stream and the subtropical jet stream, detailing their locations and strengths. The formation of jet streams is explained, emphasizing the role of temperature differences in air masses and the Coriolis effect. The report also explores the differences between jet streams in the northern and southern hemispheres, focusing on their impact on weather patterns and the influence of landmass distribution. Finally, the report highlights the broader impacts of jet streams, such as their role in separating air masses, affecting temperature and precipitation, and influencing the movement of weather systems. The report references several sources to support its analysis, offering a well-rounded understanding of this critical atmospheric phenomenon in the aviation industry.

Running head: AVIATION MANAGEMENT-JET STREAMS 1
Jet Streams
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AVIATION MANAGEMENT-JET STREAMS 2
Jet Streams
Jet streams refer to ribbons of air that move at exceptionally high speeds from west to
east across the globe (Lesley, 2014). They are less than a mile in thickness and more than a mile
long, they travel at speed greater than a hundred miles per hour. As they move at this very high
speeds, their paths constantly keep changing in shape resulting to the masses of air and weather
pattern along them being carried as if they were a piece of wood trapped in a stream of water
(Gössling & Upham, 2009) . Jet streams are majorly common in the northern hemisphere but they
do exist in the southern hemisphere as well. They are formed between troposphere and
stratosphere; this region is known as tropopause.
Types of Jet Streams
There exist two types of jet streams namely; the polar jet stream and the subtropical jet
stream (Lesley, 2014). The polar jet streams are situated in the polar front at 60 degrees’ latitude
and 7-12km above the sea level. This region is the frontier of warmer, moist air to the south and
the dry, most air to the north. The subtropical jet streams form at 30 degrees’ altitude and 10-
16km above sea level. The polar jet streams are stronger than the subtropical jet streams.
Figure 1:Jet Streams in the Northern Hemisphere

AVIATION MANAGEMENT-JET STREAMS 3
Formation of Jet Stream
Jet streams are formed in the tropopause when two or more air masses of unequal
temperature and hence difference in density meet. This strong ex-polar and tropical winds meet
and are deflected to form narrow bands of jet streams moving at the supersonic speed.
The variation in the temperature of these air masses results from the impact of the solar
radiation on the surface of the earth. The solar radiation warms the air at the equator, creating a
region of low pressure. On the contrary, there is massive cooling at the poles and therefore a high
pressure system in the region. Through the process of convection, the denser air from the poles
moves toward the equator accelerated by a horizontal pressure gradient whereas the less dense
air at the equator travels towards the poles (Philander, 2012). The low pressure air from the
equator to the poles reach the tropopause and is diverted to the right by the Coriolis effect
leading to formation of westerly winds on both the hemispheres. It is this westerly winds that are
deflected to form the narrow band jet streams.
Polar jet streams are formed at 60 degrees’ latitude. In the northern hemisphere, they are
situated in the northern border right between Canada and the United States of America. The polar
jet streams become more severe during the winter season since magnitude of the difference in
temperature between air masses in the polar front is massive. The subtropical jet streams are
formed at 30 degree’s latitude and are less severe compared to the polar jet streams. In the
northern hemisphere, they are found in the southern border between Mexico and the United
States of America.

AVIATION MANAGEMENT-JET STREAMS 4
Difference Between Northern and Southern Hemisphere Jetstream’s
The difference between the jet streams in the northern hemisphere and those in the
southern hemisphere is on the basis of their impact on the weather in the regions along their path.
In the northern hemisphere, when the polar jet streams get into the temperate region they bring
with them colder air from the north thereby reducing the overall temperatures of these regions.
Consequently, when the subtropical jet streams deep into the region of average temperature, they
bring with them much more warm air from the south thereby increasing the overall temperature
of the regions (Lesley, 2014). In the southern hemisphere, the jet streams have opposite impacts
to the weather as those in the northern hemisphere. Moreover, the jet streams in the southern
hemisphere are less forceful and exhibit less variability on a daily basis due to existence of
smaller land masses in the southern hemisphere (Phillpot, 2013, Pp.128-148).
Other impacts of jet streams to the weather include; separation of air of varied
temperatures, affecting temperatures and precipitation pattern of regions along their path,
pushing weather system across the planet and creating storms as they move along (Philander,
2012).

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References
Gössling, S., & Upham, P. (2009). Climate change and aviation: Issues, challenges and
solutions. London: Sterling, VA: Earthscan.
Lesley, P. (2014, March 2). Global winds and jet streams [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5x6y3a1eRs
Philander, S. G. (2012). Encyclopedia of global warming & climate change (2nd ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
Phillpot, H. R. (2013). Mean westerly jet streams in the southern hemisphere. Antarctic
Research: The Matthew Fontaine Maury Memorial Symposium, 128-148.
doi:10.1029/gm007p0128