What is fog?

When the visibility in the atmosphere is lower than 1 km due to the condensation of suspended water vapor, meteorology calls this weather phenomenon fog.

Fog is an aerosol composed of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere. (from environmental monitoring)

When the water vapor contained in the air reaches the maximum, it reaches saturation. The higher the temperature, the more water vapor is contained in the air. 1 m3 air, the maximum water vapor capacity is 6.36g at 4℃; When the temperature is 20℃, the maximum water vapor content in 1 m3 air is17.30g. If the air contains more water vapor than saturated water vapor at a certain temperature, the excess water vapor will condense out. When enough water molecules combine with tiny dust particles in the air, the water molecules themselves will combine with each other and become small water droplets or ice crystals. The water vapor in the air exceeds saturation and condenses into water droplets, which is mainly caused by the temperature drop. This is why it is foggy in autumn and winter morning.

If the ground heat is lost, the temperature drops and the air is quite humid, then when it is cooled to a certain extent, some water vapor in the air will condense out and become many small water droplets suspended in the air layer near the ground to form fog. Both it and clouds are caused by temperature drop, and fog can actually be said to be a cloud near the ground.

The temperature is higher during the day, so the air can hold more water vapor. But at night, the temperature drops and the capacity of water vapor in the air decreases, so some water vapor condenses into fog. Especially in autumn and winter, due to the long nights, there are not many opportunities without Feng Yun, and the ground heat dissipation is faster than that in summer, which makes the ground temperature drop sharply, so that the water vapor in the air near the ground can easily reach saturation in the middle of the night, condense into small drops and form fog. The morning temperature in autumn and winter is the lowest and the fog is the thickest.

The duration of fog is mainly related to the humidity of the local climate: generally speaking, the short fog in arid areas dissipates within 1 hour, while the long fog in humid areas is the most common and lasts for about 6 hours.