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currently studying ATPL meteorology and was wondering about the following phenomenon:
As air is becoming saturated and continues to rise, heat through condensation is being released, I understand that.
However as saturated air starts descending (foehn effect f.e. - air is moving upslope a mountain and then coming back down the leeward side) it maintains the same SALR until RH falls under 100% and then DALR takes over.
When already saturated air descends doesn't the vapor rather evaporate which is more likely to absorb latent heat rather than still emit ?
I don't exactly understand this so if anyone could further clarify this circumstance I would be very grateful !
The cloud base on the windward side of the range is lower than the cloud base on the lee side. As the air begins its descent on the lee side, much of the water vapour originally present has been condensed into cloud so the absolute humidity is lower and the condensation level is higher. More latent heat is released during the process of cloud formation on the windward side. The air beneath the cloud base on the lee side then suffers a longer period of adiabatic compression during its descent. It becomes both warmer and drier than the air on the windward side.
