User:Mns4al/Tule fog

Composition
The composition of Tule Fog in the San Joaquin and Sacramento consists mainly of ammonia, nitrate and sulfate concentrations. Furthermore, ammonia is the most commonly-found single ion and usually is measured to be more than half of the measured ions in the fog. Depending on the region within the California Central Valley, the composition of Tule Fog can vary in element or ion concentrations.

As of 2014, it has been discovered that the quantity of Tule Fog has decreased in the Central Valley from when it was initially studied from 1981-1999 compared to 2001-2012. The frequency of Tule Fog occurrence is proportional to the higher air pollution in California. Minimum temperature, DPD (the difference between ambient temperature and dew point), precipitation, wind speed are the four major components that affect fog formation. Minimum temperature affects tule fog formation because it is an extreme form of radiation fog that most often forms after sunset due to rapid surface radiative cooling. Low DPD is consistent with more frequent periods of fog. Precipitation has somewhat of a correlation to an increase in fog however it is not directly correlated due to some precipitation totals being inversely correlated to some fog years. Wind speed has a small but statistically important impact on fog frequency being that lower wind speeds are correlated with higher fog frequency.

Winter causes the optimal meteorological conditions for fog formation due to periodic storms followed by long periods of high pressure throughout California.