Peculiarities of summer transformation of air masses in the Lower Volga region of stationary arctic anticyclones

Introduction. Transformation is understood as a change in the properties of an air mass: its temperature, humidity, and stability. Transformation changes are especially strong in the summer when cold air from the Arctic basin shifts to the continental regions of Eurasia. When empirically studying the transformation process, there are difficulties associated with determining its beginning and end. Considering that transformation processes are highly dependent on geographical and meteorological factors, it is interesting to study the specifics of this process in the Lower Volga region. Theoretical analysis. The intensity and speed of transformation are considered. The magnitude of the increase in the average daily temperature during the stationary state of the Arctic anticyclone is taken as the intensity of transformation. The speed of transformation was estimated by the magnitude of the inter-day temperature variability. Conclusion. The average duration of stationarity of Arctic anticyclones in the Lower Volga region is five days. During their stationarity, the air mass warms up by 5–8°C, and the intensity of transformation decreases when shifting from north to south. The maximum transformation speed is on the second day in Saratov and Volgograd, on the third – in Samara and Astrakhan. In July and August, the highest transformation speed is noted on the fourth day in Samara, on the third – in Saratov, and on the second – in Volgograd and Astrakhan.

air masses, transformation, arctic anticyclone, inter-day variability of air temperature