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LD ES - Ch 8
LD Earth Science - Chapter 8 - Weather Systems
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Air Mass | Large body of air that has a relatively uniform conditions of temperature and pressure |
Anticyclone | High pressure system that often brings cool, clear weather as it winds rotate clockwise and away from the center; a zone of divergence |
Arctic Air Mass | Extremely cold air mass that originated far north |
Calorie | A common measuring unit of heat energy |
Cold Front | Boundary between a mass of cold air and the warmer air that it is replacing |
Continental Air Mass | Body of dry air that is low in humidity because it formed over a land area |
Convergence | Coming together of winds as they blow into a cyclone (low pressure system) |
Cyclone | Low- pressure system in which the winds rotate counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and converge to the center |
Divergence | Outward movement of winds from a high-pressure zone (anticyclone) |
Electromagnetic Energy | Energy, such as heat waves, visible light and x-rays, that can radiate through empty space. |
Electromagnetic Spectrum | Range of electromagnetic energy from long-wave radio waves to short wave gamma rays. |
Evaporation | Change in phase from a liquid to a gas (vapor); also known as vaporization |
Front | Boundary, or interface, between different air masses |
Heat | Total potential and kinetic energy that an object can release as heat |
Heat of Fusion | Latent potential energy absorbed when a solid melts and released when a liquid freezes. |
Heat of vaporization | Latent potential energy absorbed when a liquid vaporizes and released when a gas condenses. |
High-pressure system | Anticyclone; a dense mass of air in which the atmospheric pressure is highest at the center; a zone of divergence. |
Kinetic Energy | Energy of motion |
Latent Heat | Energy absorbed or released in a change of state. (Latent heat is so named because it does not show up as a temperature change) |
Low-pressure System | Weather system in which the atmospheric pressure is lower than the surrounding areas; cyclone. |
Maritime Air Mass | Body of air that is relatively moist because it formed over an ocean. |
Occluded Front | Type of weather front produced when a cold air mass overtakes a warm air mass, isolating the warm air above the ground. |
Phase | Physical state of matter, solid, liquid, or gas |
Polar air mass | Mass of cool air |
Potential Energy | Energy in storage, energy of position, or energy involved I a change of state |
Stationary Front | Interface, or boundary, between two air masses that are not moving |
Station Model | Standardized form in which weather information is presented at a preset position next to the circle that indicates the geographic location of the reporting station |
Tropical Air Mass | Warm air mass |
Source Region | Place where an air mass originates |
Synoptic Weather Map | Map showing a variety of field quantities, such as temperatures, pressure, and sky conditions, at a particular time and over a large geographic area. |
Warm Front | Boundary between a mass of warm air and the colder air it is replacing |