Download Chapter 19 Test Review Notes

Chapter 19 Review
Place these notes into your
Meteorology Notebook
Because water vapor molecules are
lighter than nitrogen or oxygen
molecules humid air is lighter than an
equal volume of dry air at the same
temperature.
Forces inside your body push outward,
balancing the weight of the air column
that stretches from your head to the
top of the atmosphere.
Air exerts pressure in all directions.
A barograph records and measures air
pressure on a chart.
Jet Stream
Jet Stream
Jet Stream
For every 5 km increase in elevation
above sea level, a barometer reading
will drop by about 50%.
Wind direction can be affected by a
pressure gradient, the Coriolis effect,
and friction in the atmosphere.
In the Southern Hemisphere, the Coriolis
effect causes an object moving freely
across Earth’s surface to turn to the
object’s left.
The Coriolis effect is greatest near the
poles.
Air above the poles is cold and sinking.
The Coriolis effect affects how strong
winds are the least. Altitude, roughness
of the Earth’s surface, and pressure
gradients cause more changes in the
wind.
Wind speed is measured by an
anemometer
Winds between the doldrums and horse
latitudes that are warm and relatively
steady in direction and speed are
known as trade winds.
The following are weaknesses in the
three-celled model of Earth’s wind
patterns.
• The circulation at mid-latitudes has
been simplified.
• Continents and seasons are not taken
into account.
• Upper-level winds have been simplified.
During the Northern Hemisphere summer,
the intertropical convergence zone can
occur as far north as 30º N.
When the coastal land is warmer than the
nearby water, a sea breeze forms.
In the doldrums, where surface winds
from two hemispheres meet, there is
hot, humid air with little or no wind.
Lines on a map that joins points having
the same sea-level air pressure at a
given time are called isobars.
If Earth did not rotate and there were no
Coriolis effect, surface wind direction
would primarily be from the poles to
the equator.
Sea breezes, land breezes, and mountain
breezes are examples of local winds.
Be able to label the high and low pressure regions, and
indicate the direction of flow on each circulation cell of
the three celled-circulation model.
High
Low
High
Low
High
Low
High
Essay #1
During the nineteenth century, many New
Hampshire farmers found that crops grew
better and that temperatures were milder on
mountainsides than in valleys. Explain why.
Mountain and valley breezes help to regulate
the temperature on a mountain. At night, the
cool mountain air sinks and flows into the
valley. During the day, hot mountain air rises
and a breeze flows up from the valley.
Essay #2
Why can an umbrella salesperson in India
take long vacations during the winter?
How might air pressure during the
winter affect umbrella sales?
During the winter in India, cold sinking air
over the continent flows toward low
pressure over the sea, producing cold,
dry winds. The lack of moisture makes
for a dry season, which could affect
umbrella sales.