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science movement
Chapter 11-Movement in the Atmosphere
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| a large body of air covering hundreds or thouands of square kilometers that has a relatively uniform temperature, pressure, and humidity | air mass |
| in meteorology, a region with relatively uniform temperature and humidity over which air masses form | source region |
| an air mass that is warmer than the surface over which it moves | warm air mass |
| an air mass that is colder than the surface over which it moves | cold air mass |
| a zone of contact between two dissimiliar air masses where neither is advancing; it usually results in no change in the weather for several days | stationary front |
| the advancing surface of a warm air mass as it pushes against and over a cooler air mass | warm front |
| the advancing surface of a cold air mass as it moves under a warmer air mass | cold front |
| a line of violent thunderstorms that sometimes accompanies an advancing cold front | squall line |
| a front formed when a cool ari mass amd a rapidly moving cold air mass trap a warm air mass between them; the warm air mass is lifted, losing all contact with the ground | occluded front |
| a regional wind system that reverses periodically, alternately bringing wet and dry systems | monsoon |
| the horizontal force exerted on a mass of air that has a higher pressure on one side than the other | pressure gradient force |
| a high-altitude wind that is controlled by the relative influence of the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis effect | geostrophic wind |
| in general, a weather system centered on a low-pressure area surrounded by a wind circulation pattern spiraling counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere | cyclone |
| an area of relatively higher atmospheric pressure; it typically contains a clockwise-rotating wind system in the Northern Hemisphere | anticyclone |
| a high-speed meandering wind current, usually flowing from west to east at altitudes of 15 to 25 km (10-15 mi.); its speed often exceeds 400 km/h (250 mi/h) | jet stream |
| a breeze that blows onshore from the ocean, usually during the daytime | sea breeze |
| a breeze that blows from shore to sea, usually at night | land breeze |
| a breeze that blows up the mountainside from the valley when air high on the mountain heats and rises; usually occurs later in the day | valley breeze |
| a breeze that flows down the mountain into the valley at night that is caused by cooling air at higher elevations | mountain breeze |
| consistent winds extending from the subtropical highs toward the equator, turned by the Coriolis effect into easterlies; they were formerly used by sailing ships to go from Europe to North and South America | trade winds |
| winds blowing consistently from southwest to northeast between 30 and 60 degrees north and south latitudes | prevailing westerlies |
| winds blowing consistently from northeast to southwest from the northern polar region, bringing cold, dry air to the northern parts of North America, Asia, and Europe | polar easterlies |
| a permanent low-pressure belt of usually windless air near the equator caused by the vertical rising of warm air | doldrums |
| bands of nearly permanent high pressure at approx. 30 degrees north or south latitude caused by descending cold air;they were named because sailing ships drifted weeks in these areas were forced to eliminate their cargoes-livestock when water ran short | horse latitudes |
| the prevailing low-pressure belt at approximately 60 degrees norht or south latitude; in the Northern Hemisphere the prevailing westerlies rise above the polar easterlies, lifting air in this zone | subpolar low |
| an area of high atmospheric pressure at either pole caused by subsiding cold air | polar high |
| a rainstorm that includes lightning and thunder | thunderstorm |
| a towering cumulonimbus cloud that builds rapidly to high altitudes (approaching 7600 m or 25000 ft.) and usually brings heavy rain, lightning, thunder, and sometimes hail | thunderhead |
| an electrical discharge that occurs either between clouds or between a cloud and the ground | lightning |
| prior to a lightning stroke, a zigzag column of highly ionized air that establishes the cannel for subsequent lightning discharges and return strokes | stepped leader |
| a lightning discharge from the ground up to a cloud along the ionized path taken by the original strike from the cloud to the ground | return stroke |
| lightning consisting of branches connected to the main stroke | forked lightning |
| a violent, narrow, rotating, funnel-shaped local windstorm containing the highest wind speeds measured, extending down from a cumulonimbus cloud | tornado |
| a tornado that occurs at sea | waterspout |
| in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific oceans, a strong, large-area cyclonic storm with wind speeds exceeding 117 km/h (73mi./h); also called a typhoon or cyclone in other parts of the world | hurricane |
| what hurricanes are called in the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions | typhoon |
| a hurricane in the Southwestern Pacific and Indian Ocean regions; also, an informal name for a tornado | cyclone (hurricane) |
| the circular center of low pressure in a hurricane that is characterized by a few clouds, relative calm, and vertical air movement | eye |
| the larger-than-normal surface waves that proceed outward from a slow-moving hurricane | storm swell |
| a large increase in sea level along the shore in front of and below a hurricane as high winds pile water up against the land, often causing catastrophic flooding and erosion; difference of sea level and tide caused by just the sun and moon at measurement | storm surge |
| a metal rod attached to the highest point of a building that prevents damage to the building from a lightning strike by conducting the electrical discharge through cables to the ground | lightning rod |
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