Download meteorology notesheet

•
Meteorology
•
Earth and Space
•
The Causes of Weather
•
_____________________________________________________________________________
are examples of atmospheric phenomena.
•
______________________________ is the study of atmospheric phenomena.
–
The root word of meteorology is the __________________________________________
_________________________________
•
Anything that is high in the sky – ___________________________________________________
______________________________ – is an example of a meteor.
•
Atmospheric phenomena are often classified as types of meteors.
–
Cloud droplets and precipitation are types of __________________________.
–
Smoke, haze, dust and other particles suspended in the atmosphere are _____________
–
Examples of electrometeors are thunder and lightning – __________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
•
The Causes of Weather
•
______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________and life on Earth are called weather.
–
•
These variations can take place over ________________________________________
___________________________________.
Climate is _____________________________________________________________________
for a particular area.
–
Meteorologists use weather-data averages over __________ to define an area’s climate.
•
Imbalanced Heating
•
Earth’s axis of rotation is _________________________________________________________.
–
•
Therefore, the number of hours of daylight and amount of solar radiation is __________
______________________________________________________________
Earth is a sphere and ____________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________.
–
For most of the year, the amount of solar radiation that reaches a given area at the
equator _____________________________________________________________.
–
The greater the area covered, ___________________________________________
________________________________.
•
Areas around Earth maintain about the same average temperatures over time ____________
______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________.
•
The constant movement of air _____________________________________________________.
•
Weather – _____________________________________________________________________
– is part of the constant redistribution of Earth’s thermal energy.
•
Air Masses
•
Air over a warm surface _______________________________________________________.
–
This heated air ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________.
–
On Earth, ______________________________________________________________
for days or weeks.
•
•
The result is the _________________________________________________.
An air mass is a large volume of air that has the _______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
– the area over which the air mass forms.
–
Most air masses form over _________________________________________________.
•
Air Masses
•
The origins of __________________________________________ are tropical bodies of water.
–
In the summer, they ______________________________________________________
_____________________________________
•
The southwestern United States and Mexico are a source region of continental tropical air,
__________________________________________________________________.
•
Maritime polar air masses form over the ____________________________________________
______________________________________.
–
The one that forms over the North Pacific primarily affects the West Coast of the United
States, ______________________________________________________________.
•
Continental polar air masses ____________________________________________________
______________________________.
–
•
In winter, these air masses _______________________________________________.
Earth’s ice- and snow-covered surfaces above 60o N latitude in Siberia and the Arctic Basin are
the _____________________________________________________________________.
–
During part of the winter, __________________________________________________
but continue to radiate thermal energy.
–
As a result, they become extremely cold and can ________________________________
__________________________________
•
Weather Systems
•
The directions of Earth’s winds are ____________________________________________.
–
This Coriolis effect results in fluids and objects moving in an _______________________
_____________________________________________
•
–
•
There are three basic zones, or wind systems, at Earth’s surface in each hemisphere.
They are the _____________________________________________________________.
The wind zones between __________________________________________________________
_________________ and the south pole are called the polar easterlies.
–
As Earth spins, this cold, descending air is ______________________________________
_____________________________________
•
•
The polar easterlies are _______________________________________.
The wind systems on Earth located between the latitudes of 30o N and 60o N, and 30o S and 60o
S are ________________________________________________.
–
•
Moving __________________________________________________________
and curves to the left in the southern hemisphere.
Prevailing westerlies are ___________________________________________________
________________________________________
Between latitudes of 30o N and 30o S are ____________________________________________
_________________.
–
Air in these regions sinks, _________________________________________________
in an easterly direction.
–
•
•
•
•
When the air reaches the equator it rises and moves back toward the 30o latitudes,
___________________________________________________.
Near latitudes 30o N and 30o S, the sinking air associated with the trade winds _______________
_____________________________________
–
This results in a __________________________________________________________.
–
__________________________________________________________, are under these
high-pressure areas.
Atmospheric conditions and events that ____________________________________________
____________________ strongly influence Earth’s weather.
–
On either side of these boundaries, both surface air and upper-level air ____________
_________________________________
–
_______________________________________________________________________.
A large temperature gradient in upper-level air combined with the Coriolis effect usually results
in ___________________________________________.
–
A jet stream ____________________________________________.
–
Its speed varies __________________________________________________________
at the wind zone boundaries.
–
The position of a jet stream ______________________________________.
It generally is ___________________________________________________________________
on a line from the equator to a pole.
–
Whatever form or position it takes, ___________________________________________
____________________________________
•
The major jet streams, ____________________________________________, separate the polar
easterlies from the prevailing westerlies in the northern and southern hemispheres.
•
The minor jet streams __________________________________________________. They occur
where the _________________________________________________________________.
•
Storms form along jet streams and _________________________________________________.
–
These systems transport cold surface air toward the tropics and ___________________
_______________________________________
–
Weather systems ________________________________________________________.
–
Jet streams also affect the intensity of weather systems by ________________________
______________________________________________________________
•
Fronts
•
Air masses with _______________________________________________ and result in dramatic
weather changes.
•
•
–
A collision of two air masses forms a front – a __________________________________
_______________________________
–
Density of an air mass results from its ________________________________________.
–
Fronts can cover _________________________________________________________.
When cold, dense air displaces warm air, it forces the warm air, __________________________
______________________________
–
This type of collision is _________________________________________.
–
As warm air rises, ___________________________________________.
–
_____________________________________________________________________ are
common with cold fronts.
A blue line with ______________________________ represents a cold front on a weather map.
–
•
•
•
The triangles point in the _________________________________________________.
Advancing warm air ____________________________________________________________.
–
A warm front ___________________________________________________________.
–
A warm front can cause ______________________________________________.
–
On a weather map, __________________________________________________
pointing in the direction of the front’s movement indicates a warm front.
When two air masses meet but neither advances, _____________________________________.
–
This front – _________________________________ – frequently occurs between two
modified air masses that have small temperature and pressure gradients between them.
–
The air masses ____________________________________________________.
–
Stationary fronts __________________________________________________.
A line of evenly spaced, ________________________________________________________
________________________________ represents a stationary front on a weather map.
•
Sometimes, a cold air mass _______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
–
As the warm air is lifted, the advancing cold air mass ____________________________
______________________________________________
–
This is called an _________________________________.
–
_________________________________________ are common along an occluded front.
•
An occluded front is shown on a weather map as a line of evenly spaced, ___________________
_____________________________ pointing in the direction of the occluded front’s movement.
•
Pressure Systems
•
Low-pressure systems – _________________________________________________________.
•
–
When air from outside the system replaces the rising air, _________________________
_________________________________
–
As air rises, it ______________________________________________ and precipitation.
–
Low-pressure systems are often _____________________________________________.
High-pressure systems – In a surface high-pressure system, ______________________________
_________________________________________________________
–
High pressure systems are usually __________________________________________.
•
Gathering Weather Data
•
Meteorologists measure atmospheric conditions, such as _______________________________
______________________________________
•
–
The quality of data is critical for _____________________________________________.
–
Two important factors in weather forcasting are the _____________________________
_________________________________________
A thermometer _____________________________ using either the Fahrenheit or Celsius scale.
–
Thermometers in most homes are ___________________________________________.
–
Liquid-in-glass thermometers contain a _______________________________________
______________________________________
–
_______________________________________________________, causing the column
to rise, and contracts when it cools, causing the column to fall.
•
•
•
A barometer ______________________________________________________.
–
One type of barometer is an _______________________________________
–
________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________.
–
Most of the air is removed, so the chamber ____________________________________
_________________________________________________
–
A ______________________________________________________________________
to a pointer on a dial.
An anemometer ___________________________________________________.
–
The simplest type of anemometer has _______________________________________
____________________________________________, that rotate as the wind blows.
–
The wind’s speed can be calculated using the ________________________________
_______________________________________________
___________________________________________________________.
–
•
•
Some hygrometers have a wet-bulb and dry-bulb thermometers and ______________
____________________________________________________
•
________________________________________________________________,
the bulb cools.
•
The temperatures of the two thermometers are read at the same time, and the
________________________________________________________________.
An instrument used for _________________________________________________________
_______________________________.
–
It consists of a package of _________________________________________________
________________________.
–
These are ___________________________________________________ that is filled
with helium or hydrogen.
–
A radiosonde’s sensors measure ____________________________________________
___________________________.
A ceilometer is a device that uses a laser or other light source to _________________________
____________________________________.