Term | Definition |
what is air | nitrogen 78% oxygen 21% water vapour, carbon dioxide,ozone and other gasses 1% |
radiation | air close to the ground is heated by heat waves |
convection | warm air rises |
conduction | cool air is heated by contact with warm air |
warm winds | winds that blow towards the pole |
cold winds | winds that blow towards the equator |
prevailing winds | winds that blow regularly over a region |
high pressure | air that has cooled and gets heavier -presses down on the earth |
low pressure | air is heated and expands -becomes lighter less weight |
the water cycle | evaporation ,condensation,precipitation , runoff |
convectional rainfall | sun heats the ground,air expands gets lighter and rises,it cools condenses and forms clouds,=heavy showers of rain during hot spells |
relief rainfall | sea winds full of moisture,forced to rise over mountains , moisture cools, condenses and falls as rain |
cyclonic rainfall | cold polar air meets warm tropical air ,warm air is forced to rise quickly,it condenses forms clouds along warm and cold fronts ,rain falls |
precipitation | rain ,hail, sleet, snow |
winds | moving air.air moves from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure |
cause of ocean currents | unequal heating of the sea at different latitudes - at the the poles the sea is cold -at the equator the sea is warm-water moves between warm and cold sea areas |
atmospheric pressure | the weight of air |
to measure humidity | hygrometer |
to measure temperature | thermometer maximum and minimum |
to measure sunshine | Cambell-Stokes recorder |
to measure pressure | mercury barometer, aneroid baremeter and a barograph |
to measure rainfall | rain guage |
to measure the direction of wind | wind vane |
to measure the speed of wind | anemometer |
wind strength is measured by the | Beaufort scale |
a stephenon screen is used for | holding a maximum and minimum thermometer and a wet and dry bulb thermometer |
hectopascals/millibars | measurment for pressure |
isobar | lines joining places of equal pressure |
isotherm | lines joining places of equal temperature |
isohel | lines joining places of equal sunshine |
isohyet | lines joining places of equal rainfall |
Hurricane/Typhoon | rototing masses of cloud |
cyclones | create warm and cold fronts over Ireland and Western Europe |
a cold current | Labrador current |
a warm current | north Atlantic drift |
weather | condition of the atmosphere over a short period of time |
climate | the condition of the atmosphere over a long period of time e.g 35 years |