Thermal

A thermal column (or thermal) is a rising mass of buoyant air, a convective current in the atmosphere, that transfers heat energy vertically. Thermals are created by the uneven heating of Earth's surface from solar radiation, and are an example of convection, specifically atmospheric convection.

This article is about the atmospheric phenomenon. For other uses, see Thermal (disambiguation).
Bubble or vortex ring thermal model (left), and column or plume thermal model (right)
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