turbulence

[Immi666]

what exactly is turbulence?

[LionNo4]

Too much curry and guiness the night before.

[jno]

It's to do with changes in air pressure, which produce varying resistance for the plane. Much the same as wind - blows hard, dies down suddenly, blows hard again. Can sometimes be hard to spot before it happens; if it is spotted, pilots may vary the route to avoid it.

[Clanad]

Well, of course one can't actually see turbulence, nor can radar detect it. One can see the results of the tubulence by way of clouds, and if there is sufficient water content in the clouds, radar can detect that as well. Turbulence can also be caused by up and down air movements as well as horizontal. In fact, some of the most severe turbulence is the result of up and down air movements in thunder storms. Some (rare) turbulence is not associated with clouds and hence, it is called 'clear air turbulence' or CAT for short...