Download Topics covered between tests 1 and 2

Topics covered in AS 2000 - Introduction to Meteorology, Spring 2011, between test
1 and test 2. Demonstrations are indicated in blue.
Ch. 6 Stability and cloud development
1) Thermodynamic diagram
a) Lapse rates
i)
dry adiabatic
ii)
moist adiabatic
iii)
environmental
iv)
water vapor mixing ratio
v)
lifted condensation level
2) Environmental stability
a) Stable
b) Neutral
c) Conditionally unstable
d) Absolutely unstable
3) Causes of instability
a) Cold air advection aloft
b) Surface warming (demo – cold food color introduced to bottom of beaker with
water sitting on a heat plate. After food color disperses across the bottom turn on
heat and observe convection)
a) Lifting mechanisms
i)
orography
ii)
cold fronts
iii)
surface heating
iv)
convergence
Ch. 7 – Precipitation
a) Cloud drops to rain drops
b) Warm rain processes (collision - coalescence)
c) Ice crystal process
i)
Ice nucleation, ice nuclei
ii)
Growth by vapor diffusion over ice
iii)
Ice crystal shapes = f(T)
iv)
Cloud seeding
Ch. 8 –Air pressure, forces, and winds
1) Laws of motion: Force, acceleration, F=ma
2) Forces that affect air motion
a) Gravity
b) Pressure gradient force
i) Differential heating of the earth  Equator to pole pressure gradient
c) Coriolis force
i) Coordinate systems - frames of reference (demo – suspend cup of water with
holes in the side. Notice water stops being expelled from cup if cup is allowed to
fall. 2nd demo – straight line on a piece of paper in reference space of room curves
when captured on a rotating piece of paper.)
d) Friction
3) Force balance
a) Hydrostatic
b) Geostrophic
i)
Upper level westerlies
ii)
Cyclonic / Anticyclonic circulation
iii)
Thermal wind – in presence of horizontal temperature gradient, wind
speed increases with height. Leads to jet stream.
c) Gradient – hurricanes – balance of pressure gradient and centrifugal force.
Ch. 9 – Wind: Small-scale and local systems
a) Sea and land breezes
b) Chinooks
Ch. 10 – Wind: Global systems
1) General atmospheric circulation
a) Differential heating of earth's surface
b) Three cell model (Hadley, Ferrel, Polar)
i)
Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
ii)
Subsidence - deserts
iii)
Trade winds
iv)
Cell boundaries
c) Upper level westerlies,
i)
jet streams
ii)
wave structure
2) General oceanic circulation
a) Ekman spiral - upwelling
b) Gulf stream
c) El Nino Southern Oscillation
Ch. 14 – Thunderstorms and tornadoes - Topics
1) Convection
a) Showers
b) Thunderstorms
c) Tornadoes (demo – tornado jar)
Ch. 11 - Air masses and fronts
1) Air mass defintion/ source regions
2) Air mass types and source regions in our area
a) cP  continental Polar - central Canada
b) cT  continental Tropical - central Mexico
c) mP  maritime Polar - northern Pacific
d) mT  maritime Tropical - central eastern Pacific/ gulf of Mexico
e) cA  continental Arctic
3) Fronts (demo – watch change in oil water interface when bottle of oil/water is
spun. Discuss differences in hydrostatic pressure profile of oil, which causes
variations in the oil water interface. Only partially related to fronts, but shows
how fluids of different densities interact)
a) Cold
b) Warm
c) Occluded
d) Stationary
Ch. 12 Middle latitude cyclones
1) Polar front theory
2) Cyclones as eddies in large scale flow - transporting energy
3) Upper level waves
a) Genesis – vorticity – (demo spinning an egg, baseball, rifling).
b) Long
c) Short
4) Vertical structure of cyclone/anticyclone
a) Upper level and low level divergence/convergence
b) Relationship of cyclones, jet stream, upper level trough.
5) Life cycle of extratropical cyclone
a) Cyclogenesis
b) Development
c) Maturity
d) Decay