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ExtremeWeatherExam1
Question | Answer |
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Weather | Short term condition or behavior of the atmosphere for a short period of time. |
Climate | General weather conditions over a long span of time. The average conditions. |
What is the difference between weather and climate? | Weather is what you get while the climate is what you expect. |
Atmosphere | The gaseous potion of a planet. The planet's envelope of air. |
What are the permanent gases of the atmosphere? | Nitrogen-78% Oxygen- 21% Argon- 1% |
What are the variable gases of the atmosphere? | Water Vapor, Carbon Dioxide, and Ozone |
What is the most important and abundant variable gas? | Water vapor |
What are aerosols? | Tiny particles suspended in the atmosphere. |
Where do aerosols originate from? | Volcanic eruptions, soil blown into the air, industrial process, and car emissions. |
What is the thinnest layer of the atmosphere? | Troposphere |
What is the ionosphere? | The layer of the atmosphere 100 km above the earth (in the thermosphere) where it is significantly ionized an conducts electricity. The aurora occurs here. |
Which gas dominates most of the earth's atmosphere? | Nitrogen |
Aurora Borealis/Australis | Earth's magnetic fields trap incoming solar winds and send a flow of ions towards the poles. |
Ozone | Ozone absorbs incoming ultra violet rays. Ozone is mainly found in the stratosphere. |
What kind of radiation does water vapor absorb? | IR radiation. |
Incoming Solar Radiation | Solar radiation is energy emitted by the sun in electromagnetic form. Half of the ISR is in the visible spectrum. The other half is in the infrared portion. |
Name 3 reasons why is it hot in the tropics and cold in the poles | 1. The earth's surface is curved relative to the ISR. 2. Direct rays are always in the tropic latitudes. 3. Sub solar radiation is diffused in the polar regions. |
Aphelion | The point where the earth is farthest away from the sun. The N.H. is in summer. July 4th |
Periphelion | The point where the earth is the closest to the sun. The N.H. is in winter. January 3rd. |
Summer Solstice | June 21, Summer for N.H., sub solar rays are at the Tropic of Cancer, North Pole is in 24 hours of light. |
Winter Solstice | December 21st, Winter for N.H., sub solar point is at the Tropic of Capricorn, North pole is in 24 hours of darkness. |
Vernal Equinox | March 21st, The earth receives 12 hours of daylight, sub solar point at the equator. |
Autumnal Equinox | September 21st, Both poles receive 12 hours of daylight, sub solar point is at the equator. |
Why do the seasons change? | The tilt of the earth's axis, the path of the earth around the sun, the rotation of earth on its axis. |
Heat | Transfer of kinetic energy between 2 objects. |
Temperature | Measure of average kinetic energy of molecules or atoms in a substance. |
Radiaiton | The process of energy transmission by electromagnetic waves. |
Conduction | Involves heat transfer by physical contact between objects or substances of different temperatures. Heat always flows from warm to cold. |
Convection | The process of energy transfer through the physical movement of a fluid from one place to another. For example, wind and ocean currents. |
Wien's Displacement Law | The warmer the object, the shorter the wavelength. |
Rayleigh Scattering | Particles in rayleigh scattering are relatively small compare to the wavelengths of radiation. Causes the sky to be blue as shorter wavelengths are scattered first. |
Mie Scattering | Particles in mie scattering are larger than the wavelengths of radiation. Responsible for the appearance of white clouds as all wavelengths are equally scattered. |
Albedo | The intensity of reflection. Lighter surfaces have a higher albedo, darker surfaces have a lower albedo. |
Greenhouse Effect | Solar rad comes through the atmo. Most rad is absorbed by the Earth's surface, some is redirected by the earth and the atmo. Infrared rad is emitted from earth's surface. Some passes through the atmo while some is absorbed and emitted by greenhouse gases. |
Insolation does 1 of these 3 things | Scatter, Reflect (albedo), or absorption. |
Weather events strive towards this | Balance, or equilibrium. |
Sensible Heat | What we feel and measure with a thermometer. |
Latent Heat | Energy that is locked away when a change of state occurs. |
5 controls of temperature | Latitude, continentality, altitude, ocean currents, albedo. |
What is the most important control of temperature? | Latitude |
What causes more steady average temperatures? | Water |
Continentality in each hemisphere | 81% of the southern hemisphere is covered in water causing less temperature ranges versus the northern hemisphere. |
Windward side of mountain ranges | Air rises to pass over the mountain and consequently cools. Precipitation is common because the cool air causes moisture. |
Leeward side of mountain ranges | Air warms as it comes down the mountain and loses its moisture causing a dry region. |
What are ocean currents driven by? | Ocean currents are driven by the thermohaline and prevailing winds. |
What is the direction of water circulation in each hemisphere? | In the northern hemisphere water circulates clockwise around the continents. In the southern hemisphere it circulates counterclockwise making a trip around Antarctica. |
Where is the hottest place at generally? | It is hottest in the middle of land masses. |
When is the coldest time of the day? | The coldest time is early in the morning before sunrise. |
When is the warmest time of the day? | The warmest time of the day is early afternoon because the earth must absorb and redistribute the radiation. |
How is the troposphere heated? | The troposphere is heated by radiation, conduction, and convection from the ground. |
Why are ocean temperatures not as extreme as temperatures on land? | Specific heat of water, convection, latent heat, and transparency. |
Isotherm | Lines of constant or equal temperature, often used to show difference in temperature on maps. |
Thermohaline | Global oceanic circulation. |
Methods used to describe the amount of water vapor in the air | Absolute humidity, mixing ratio, vapor pressure, relative humidity, and the dew point. |
Absolute humidity | Density of water vapor in a parcel of air. Not commonly used in forecasting because the volume of a parcel changes with pressure. |
Formula for absolute humidity | Mass of water vapor (g)/volume of air (m^3) |
Mixing ratio | The mass of water vapor in a unit of air compared to the remaining mass of dry air. It is hard to calculate by direct sampling. |
Mixing ratio formula | Mass of water vapor (g)/mass of dry air (kg) |
Vapor pressure | Each water molecule exerts a push. More molecules equals more push or pressure. |
Saturated vapor pressure | Balance is achieved when the number of molecules evaporating equals the number of molecules condensing. Evaporation occurs rapidly first but then the increase in pressure causes some water vapor to condense. |
Relative humidity | Relative humidity is a measure of how near a parcel of air is to being saturated. Air is saturated when the relative humidity is 100%. |
Formula for relative humidity | Water vapor content/water vapor capacity at current temperature. |
How does the relative humidity change? | Relative humidity changes when there is a change in temperature and/or moisture content. |
Rule of relative humidity | When temperatures are lower relative humidity values are highest. Air is saturated along the curve. The cooler air has a low capacity to hold moisture. |
Heat's effects on the human body | Kidney problems, liver damage, blood clots, rapid/irregular heart beat, lung malfunction, and an increase in co-morbidities. |
Dew point | The temperature to which air must be cooled to achieve saturation. If the temperature and dew point temperature are equal then the air is saturated. It can't be greater than the air temperature. |
Earth's average albedo percentage | 31% |
Why does the tropopause differ in regions of the world? | Hotter environments push up the warmer air while cold places have more dense air that does not push as much. |
What drives weather and climate? | Energy received from the sun. |
What causes the sub solar point to change? | The tilt of eath's axis at 21.5 degrees. |
What variable gas is added or removed through the hydrologic cycle? | Water vapor |
Why does moist air rise? | Water has less amu than other atoms in the air causing it to be a lighter gas. |
What causes condensation? | Condensation is caused by cooling air below its dew point temperature. |