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Chapter 12 Notes
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Weather | Short-term variations in atmospheric phenomena that interact and affect the enviroment and life on Earth |
| Climate | The long-term average of variations in weather for a particualr area. |
| Air Mass | A larfe volume of air that has the same characteristics, such as humidity and temperature, as its source reegion forms. |
| Source Region | The area over which the air mass forms. |
| Coriolis Effect | The directions of Earth's winds are influenced by Earth's rotation |
| Polar Easterlies | The wind zones between 60 N latitude anf the north pole, and 60 S latitude and the south pole |
| Prevailing Westerlies | The wind systems on Earth located between latitude 30 N and 60 N, and 30 S and 60 S |
| Trade Winds | Two circulation belts of wind found between latitudes 30 N and 30 S |
| Jet stream | A narrow band of fast wind |
| Front | A narrow region between two air masses of different densities |
| thermometer | measures temperature using either Fahrenheit or Celsius scale |
| barometer | measures air pressure |
| anemometer | measures wind speed |
| hygrometer | measures humidity |
| radiosonde | used for gathering upper-atmospheric data |
| Doppler Effect | change in pitch or frequency that occurs due to the relative motion of a wave |
| station model | a record of weather data for a particular site at a particular time |
| isobar | lines on a weather map connecting areas of equal pressure |
| isotherm | lines on a weather map connecting areas of equal temperature |
| digital forecast | weather forecast that uses numerical data to predict how atmospheric varibles change over time |
| analog forecast | weather forecast that compares current weather patterns to patterns that occured in the past |