Download Meteorology Review for Final

ANSWERS Meteorology Review for Final 2011
23. The Atmosphere
23.1. Characteristics of the Atmosphere
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What gases make up the atmosphere?
78% N2, 21% O2, other such as carbon dioxide
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23.2.
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23.3.
What is atmospheric pressure? What causes atmospheric pressure?
Collisions of gas molecules with all surfaces, is influenced by the amount of gas
molecules above you, mathematically is pressure = force/surface area
How does atmospheric change with altitude in the troposphere?
Pressure decreases with altitude because fewer and fewer gas molecules
What are the layers of the atmosphere?
Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere
On what characteristic is the atmosphere divided into layers?
Temperature patterns change from layer to layer
In which layer of the atmosphere do we live?
troposphere
What’s special about the stratosphere? Contains the ozone layer that traps much of the
ultraviolet radiation from the sun and protects us from damaging UV radiation
The mesosphere? The coldest layer The thermosphere? Technically ‘hot’ but so few very
energetic gas molecules that temp can’t be measured using regular thermometers
Solar Energy and the Atmosphere
What’s the difference between conduction, convection, and radiation?
Conduction – mostly solids, direct transfer from one molecule to the next
Convection – liquids and gasses, molecules in motion to transfer energy
Radiation – without any matter at all, no molecules needed to carry energy
example radiation from sun
How do we get most heat energy on Earth?
From the sun
What are the parts of the electromagnetic spectrum?
Tv/radio, microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, xrays, gamma
Which electromagnetic rays are shortest wavelength, highest frequency? Gamma, most
damaging
Longest wavelength, lowest frequency? Tv/radio
What is the greenhouse effect? Atmosphere absorbs sun’s energy but does not emit all
of it, trapped inside the atmosphere
What are examples of greenhouse gases? Carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor
Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Can be both, must be just right amount
What is albedo? % solar radiation reflected by a surface
Why do we have seasons? Earth’s tilt and rotation around the sun
What is the primary cause of uneven heating on the surface of the earth?
Earth is round!!! There are other reasons secondary to that
How many degrees is the Earth tilted with respect to its orbit? 23.5 degrees
Where is the earth tilted during each of the seasons? N Hemisphere, during summer,
tilted toward; during winter, tilted away
Winds
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What is convection and why does it happen? Transfer of heat via movement of
molecules, air gets warm, it rises because it is less dense….air cools down, it sinks, more
dense
What happens to the density of air when it is heated? See above
What is the ultimate source of energy for winds? The sun,
Why does air move from one place to another? Example: air at poles is cooler and there is
an area of high pressure, air at equator is warmer and there is low pressure, SO air
moves from high at poles to low pressure at equator (from area of H pressure to area of
L pressure)
Why do we have circulation of global wind patterns? Coriolis effect deflects winds moving
from poles to equator, land masses maybe, big reason: heat capacity of land vs water
Draw global wind patterns and label with wind belt names. Northern Hemi: from poles to
equator 3 cells: polar, ferrel, Hadley; 3 wind belts: polar easterlies, westerlies,
tradewinds
In which wind band is most of the United States? Ferrel cell, westerlies winds
What are land and sea breezes?during day: sea breeze – land is warmer than water,
breeze comes from sea to land; during night land breeze – land is cooler than water,
breeze goes from land to sea
What are isotherms? Lines of constant temperature on weather map
What are isobars? Lines of constant barometric pressure
What does it mean when they’re close together or far apart?
24. Water in the atmosphere
24.1. Atmospheric moisture
28. What gas in the atmosphere is responsible for humidity? Water vapor
29. What is relative humidity? Ratio, Percentage of amount of water vapor in the air
compared to the max amount there could be
30. How can you find relative humidity?use a sling psychrometer, compares wet and dry bulb
temperature with chart. (what is the equation?)
31. What do we call it when air cannot hold any more water vapor? Saturated or saturation
32. How is the maximum amount of water vapor related to temperature?warm air can hold
more , cool air holds less
33. If temperature rises and the amount of water does not change, how does relative humidity
change?
34. How can the actual amount of water vapor in the air INCREASE? A new air mass that is
more humid (maritime) moves in
35. What is dew point? The temperature at which saturation occurs, in other words temp at
which water vapor in air condenses
36. What happens when temperatures fall below the dew point? Condensation on ground
DEW, or if it’s cold enough FROST Describe in detail.
37. Know how to use the relative humidity formula, wet and dry bulb chart, and temperature
and water vapor chart.
24.3 Precipitation
38. What is precipitation? Condensed water vapor that falls through atmosphere, can be
solid or liquid (Snow, rain, hail sleet, etc.)
39. Read through all different types of precipitation.
25. Weather
25.1. Air Masses
40. What is an air mass? A large volume of air of same temperature and humidity
41. How are air masses classified? By their humidity and temp (depends on where the air
mass comes from)
42. What are the characteristics of a maritime, continental, tropical, or polar air mass?
Maritime – from over water; continental – from over land; tropical – from near equator;
polar – from near poles
25.2. Fronts
43. What is a front? A boundary between two or more air masses
44. How are precipitation and fronts related? Fronts can force warm humid air to rise, form
clouds and bring on precipitation
45. What kind of precipitation is associated with a cold front? Shorter periods of precip,
thunderstorms, hail With a warm front? Longer periods of precipitation, long periods of
showers, rain
46. What happens to temperature as a cold front passes? Temp decreases Warm front? Temp
increases
25.3. Weather Instruments
47. What instruments are used to measure the following:
a) Temperature - thermometer
b) Atmospheric pressure barometer
c) Relative humidity psychrometer
d) Rainfall amount rain gauge
25.4. Forecasting the Weather
48. Know how to interpret a station model symbol.
49. Why are station model symbols used?as a convenient way to include all weather data in
one diagram, the station model is just a snapshot in time, the conditions at a specific
time and place, can be used to create larger weather maps
50. In general, how do weather systems in the US move? Systems move from west to east
and are carried by the Jetstream and the westerlies
51. Be able to interpret and forecast future weather from a weather map.
Hurricanes and Tornadoes
52. What is a hurricane? A powerful low pressure system that forms over warm waters of
Atlantic off coast of North Africa, strong winds, powerful surge of ocean waters, heavy
rains
53. How do they form? See above
54. What is a storm surge? Extra ocean and river water than moves inland during powerful
storms such as hurricanes
55. How do we categorize hurricanes?
56. How do we plot a hurricane? Using latitude and longitude data of the storm as it travels
57. What is a tornado? A violent, rotating column of air and clouds that creates winds up to
100 mph or more, can be accompanied by thunderstorms
58. Compare and contrast hurricanes and tornadoes:
hurricanes have a longer life (days, more than a week) and tornadoes only a few
minutes, rarely an hour;
hurricane intensity, etc. can be categorized before they arrive in your area, tornadoes
are classified only after the fact according to measured wind speeds and damage;
hurricanes can be huge, hundreds of miles wide; tornadoes are no more than a mile
wide and often much smaller than that
tornadoes cause mostly wind damage, hurricanes cause mostly water and some wind
damage
Climate
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How does weather differ from climate? Weather is the short term conditions over a small
area; climate is the long term pattern over a larger area
What are the differences between natural warming and amplified warming? Natural
warming of the climate may occur due to natural processes such as solar activity,
volcanic eruptions, etc. Amplified warming is climate warming that is made worse or
accelerated by man-made causes such as burning fossil fuels
Why is climate change also an ethical issue? It is a question of taking care of the planet
for future generations.
What is a carbon footprint? The amount of carbon dioxide produced, released into the
atmosphere by your daily activities, That carbon dioxide stays in the atmosphere for
thousands of years What steps can you take to reduce your carbon footprint? Reduce
activities that depends on burning of fossil fuels, improve efficiency of processes that
create carbon dioxide,etc.