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Earth Space Science
Unit 2A Review
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Definition of atmosphere | A layer of gas or several gases that envelop Earth, or the air surrounding Earth |
| Is "envelope" appropriate? | Yes, atmosphere envelopes earth |
| Nitrogen | 78% of atmosphere, nutrition, proteins/DNA, dilute oxygen to prevent uncontrolled combustion |
| Oxygen | 21% of atmosphere, respiration, used by all living things, necessary for combustion |
| Argon | 0.93% of atmosphere, nonreactive, used in lightbulbs |
| How is the atmosphere tied to Earth? | Gravitational attraction |
| How is the atmosphere changed/influenced? | Human activity |
| 4 main layers of atmosphere | Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere |
| Troposphere | Layer 1 of atmosphere (lowest) |
| Stratosphere | Layer 2 of atmosphere |
| Mesosphere | Layer 3 of atmosphere |
| Thermosphere | Layer 4 of atmosphere (highest) |
| Exosphere | Layer 5 of atmosphere (deep space) |
| Ozone layer | in stratosphere, protects Earth from harmful UV radiation |
| Greenhouse effect | Process of trapping and absorbing heat in the atmosphere |
| Greenhouse gases | Carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur hexafluoride, water vapor |
| What causes acceleration of greenhouse effect? | Burning fossil fuels |
| Why is the natural greenhouse effect important? | Leads to stable range of temperatures that allow for life on Earth |
| Where in the atmosphere do most human activities occur? | Troposphere |
| Continental | Air masses formed over land |
| Maritime | Air masses formed over water |
| Polar | Air masses formed near the poles |
| Tropical | Air masses formed near the equator |
| Arctic | Air masses formed over the arctic |
| continental arctic air | very cold dry air |
| continental polar air | cold dry air |
| maritime polar air | cold moist air |
| continental tropical air | warm dry air |
| maritime tropical air | warm moist air |
| As air warms, it rises, creating _? | Low pressure area |
| As air cools, it sinks, creating _? | High pressure area |
| Wind direction in a low pressure system (N Hemi) | Counterclockwise, toward center |
| Wind direction in a high pressure system (N Hemi) | Clockwise, out of center |
| Low pressure system is associated with _ weather | stormy |
| High pressure system is associated with _ weather | clear |
| Lower elevation leads to _ climate | warmer |
| Higher elevation leads to _ climate | cooler |
| Climate near the equator is _ | warmer |
| Climate near the equator is _ | cooler |
| Climate near warm currents is _ | warm and moist |
| Climate near cool currents is _ | cool and moist |
| Climate away from currents is _ | dry |
| Regularity of long-term conditions allows ecosystem to _ | Evolve, adapt, survive |
| Regularity of climate helps humans in _ | Agriculture, settlement, health |
| Warm fronts associated with _ weather | Rainy, stormy weather |
| Cold fronts associated with _ weather | Clear weather |
| Ultimate cause of all weather? | Uneven heating and cooling of Earth's surface |
| Four basic factors that influence weather | Heat energy, air pressure, winds, moisture content |
| Other factors that influence weather | Cloud cover, precipitation, geography, elevation, surface features, terrain |
| Definition of weather | State of atmosphere at any given time |
| Definition of climate | Average weather patterns for a very long term (30+ years) |
| 25 degrees, raining, windy | Example of weather |
| Yearly rainfall 12-30 in, mild summers, cool winters | Example of climate |
| Low pressure center, winds blow into center, CCW in N Hemi, stormy weather | Cyclone |
| Heat levels + humidity + location between the Gulf and Atlantic ocean = ? | Prime lightning factory (Florida) |
| Rain clouds + high heat = ? | Thunder and lightning |
| What is lightning? | Giant spark of electricity in atmosphere or between atmosphere/ground |
| What happens to air temperature after lightning strikes? | Lightning heats air to 43000+ degrees Fahrenheit |
| What causes thunder? | Rapid expansion and contraction of air molecules after lightning strike; leads to sound waves |
| Why does thunder follow lightning? | Delay between light and sound |
| Three cyclones that are part of the weather in the U.S. | Mid-latitude cyclone, hurricane, tornado |
| Most powerful cyclone? | Hurricane; cover large area, spawn tornadoes, cause flooding |
| Diameter and wind speed of a mid-latitude cyclone | Thousands of miles; low to moderate wind speed |
| Diameter and wind speed of a hurricane | Hundreds of miles; 50-100 mph |
| Diameter and wind speed of a tornado | Less than 1 mile; 200+ mph |
| How much of the atmosphere does carbon dioxide make up? | 0.01-0.1% of the atmosphere |
| How much of the atmosphere does water make up? | 0-7% of the atmosphere |
| How much of the atmosphere does ozone make up? | 0-0.01% of the atmosphere |
| Essential to the nutrition of plants and animals; present in all proteins; dilutes oxygen | Nitrogen |
| Used by all living things; respiration; combustion | Oxygen |
| Used in photosynthesis; traps infrared heat | Carbon dioxide |
| What are some trace gases in the atmopshere? Do they do anything? | Neon, helium, krypton, xenon; no |
| Absorbs and scatters UV light | Ozone |
| As you go higher, troposphere temp _ | decreases |
| As you go higher, stratosphere temp _ | increases |
| As you go higher, mesosphere temp _ | decreases |
| As you go higher, thermosphere temp _ | increases |
| How does the temperature change at each "pause" in the atmosphere? | Stays the same |
| Between troposphere and stratosphere | Tropopause |
| Between stratosphere and mesosphere | Stratopause |
| Betwene mesosphere and thermosphere | Mesopause |
| As altitude increases, the air pressure _ | decreases |
| Cause of air pressure | Earth's gravitation field pulls on air molecules |
| What instrument is used to read air pressure? | Barometer |
| What happens to air molecules as you go up in altitude? | Become thinner, less dense, less oxygen per unit |
| Where does weather take place? | Troposphere |
| What happens to mercury in a tube when air pressure increases? | Rises |
| What happens to mercury in a tube when air pressure decreases? | Falls |
| What's an aneroid barometer? | Metal chamber with some air removed, sensitive to pressure changes |
| What is conduction? | Direct transfer of heat from one substance to another |
| What is convection? | Transfer of heat by circulation of a fluid |
| What is radiation? | Transfer of energy by means of waves |
| What is reflection? | Act of light bouncing off an object |
| Physical factors and positions/movements of Earth that cause different amounts of energy to strike surface? | Axis spinning, Earth's revolution |
| How is heat energy redistributed? | As the sun warms the land and ocean water, it heats the air surrounding those areas. The warm air rises and cooler air flows in to replace it. Additionally, Earth's rotation causes the warm to turn as it flows. |
| Three weather conditions that change daily | Air temperature, air pressure, and wind speed/direction |
| It is the _ of climate that makes it so important | regularity |
| What two things happen to solar radiation as it reaches Earth? | Either reflected back into space or absorbed |
| How does solar radiation leave the atmosphere? | Either reflected or radiated |
| Greenhouse effect | Sun transmits heat to Earth, which is trapped by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; heat stays and warms atmosphere |
| The main power source for global weather | The sun |
| Part of Earth's surface receives more direct, intense solar radiation? | Equator |
| Part of Earth's surface receives less direct, less intense solar radiation | The poles |
| % of solar radiation entering the atmosphere reflected by clouds | 20 |
| % of the solar radiation entering the atmosphere reflected by Earth's surface | 4 |
| % of solar radiation entering the atmosphere reflected by atmosphere | 6 |
| % of solar radiation entering the atmosphere absorbed by Earth's surface | 51 |
| % of solar radiation entering the atmosphere absorbed by atmosphere | 19 |
| Weather systems are set in motion by _ | unequal heating of earth's surface |
| The _ is important in keeping the temperature in atmosphere stable | greenhouse effect |
| Greenhouse effect becomes a problem _ | when there is an increase in amount of greenhouse gases in atmosphere, unbalanced |
| Increased amount of greenhouse gases = ? | Higher average global temperatures |
| Air pressure is _ | the idea that air molecules exert pressure on Earth's surface |
| Warm air molecules exert _ pressure | less |
| Cold air molecules exert _ pressure | more |
| Motion of air in a convection cell | Warms in the center of a low pressure area, rises, cools, moves to high pressure area |
| Wind blow from _ pressure centers to _ pressure centers | high; low |
| Two factors that cause difference in wind speed in pressure gradient | Wind speed (closer together, higher speed) and friction |
| Two factors that affect air pressure | temperature and elevation |
| Cool, falling air associated with _ pressure | high |
| Warm, rising air associated with _ pressure | low |
| How do winds blow? | From areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure |
| Polar Easterlies in Northern Hemisphere (1) | east to west (1) |
| Westerlies in Northern Hemisphere blow from (1) | west to east (1) |
| Trade winds in Northern Hemisphere blow from (2) | east to west (2) |
| Polar Easterlies in Southern Hemisphere blow from (3) | east to west (3) |
| Westerlies in Southern Hemisphere blow from (2) | west to east (2) |
| Trade Winds in Southern Hemisphere blow from (4) | east to west (4) |
| Winds are named for _ | the direction from which they blow |
| What causes the coriolis effect? | Earth's rotation |
| Winds tend to rotate CCW in the _ hemisphere as they move into low pressure area | northern |
| Winds tend to rotate CW in the _ hemisphere as they move into low pressure area | southern |
| Warmer the air temperature, the _ water vapor it can contain | more |
| Cooler the air temperature, the _ water vapor it can contain | less |
| What is the saturation point? | Point at which relative humidity reaches 100%, air can hold no more water vapor |
| What is relative humidity? | The amount of water vapor in the air at a certain temperature compared to the amount of water vapor that could be in the air at that temperature, expressed as % |
| What is humidity? | The amount of water vapor in the air at any given time |
| What is dew point? | the temperature air would have to cool in order for air to saturate |
| What is the main result of air saturation? | condensation; forms fog, clouds |
| When did the first weather map come into being? | 1870s |
| How was the first weather map made? | stations from around the country observed the weather. Meteorologists recorded temperature, wind speed/direction, and pressure. They sent the data to Washington, DC, where others analyzed it by hand. |
| What were some problems with early weather maps? | Poor population distribution led to missing data; meteorologists did not know how to interpet the maps they were given |
| Why are weather maps important? | Helps predict changes in the weather and summarize what's occurring in the atmosphere |
| How are modern weather observations made? | Taken from thousands of locations; data sent to DC and processed by computers |
| What is the center of the mid-latitude cyclone? | An area of low pressure |
| Where do mid-latitude cyclones form? | 30-60 degrees latitude |
| Mid-latitude cyclone rotates _ in N. Hemisphere | counterclockwise |
| Mid-latitude cyclone travels _ across the States (5) | west to east (5) |
| Air mass associated with mid-latitude cyclone? | Cold/dry air |
| Front associated with western side of MLC? | cold front |
| Front associated with eastern side of MLC? | warm front |
| Air mass associated with eastern side of MLC? | warm/moist air |
| Weather associated with MLC? | stormy with precipitation |
| Size of MLC? | Several states/thousands of miles |
| Where do hurricanes usually form? | over tropical waters |
| Where do tornadoes usually form? | over land |
| Average number of lightning induced injuries per year in the US over 30 years? | 270 |
| Average number of lightning induced deaths per year in the US over 30 years? | 48-49 |
| 30/30 rule | See lightning; count the seconds until you hear thunder. If 30 seconds or less, seek shelter. At the end of the storm, wait 30 minutes or more after hearing the last thunder before leaving shelter. |
| Plot - number top left | Temperature |
| Plot - number bottom left | Dew point |
| Plot - number upper right | Sea-level pressure |
| Plot - number bottom right | Pressure trend (mb) |
| Plot - circle | Sky cover |
| Plot - flag/straight line | Wind direction and speed |
| Plot - 2-4 small dots | Rain |
| Plot - 2-4 small asterisks | Snow |
| Plot - R-shaped arrow | Thunder |
| Plot - R-shaped arrow (dot on top) | Thunder (rain) |
| Plot - R-shaped arrow (asterisk on top) | Thunder (snow) |
| Plot - upside-down triangle (dot on top) | Shower (rain) |
| Plot - upside-down triangle (asterisk on top) | Shower (snow) |
| Plot - two commas | Drizzle |
| Plot - tilde (dot in middle) | Freezing rain |
| Plot - tilde (comma in middle) | Freezing drizzle |
| Plot - triangle (dot in middle) | Ice pellets/sleet |
| Plot - 2-3 lines | fog (thin/thick) |
| Plot - infinity sign | Haze |
| Plot wind speed - half dash | 5 mph |
| Plot wind speed - full dash | 10 mph |
| Plot wind speed - full triangle | 50 mph |
| Plot sky cover - open | clear |
| Plot sky cover - straight line | few clouds (less than 12%) |
| Plot sky cover - 1/4 pie | scattered clouds (approx 25%) |
| Plot sky cover - 1/2 pie | partly cloudy (approx 50%) |
| Plot sky cover - 3/4 pie | mostly cloudy (approx 75%) |
| Plot sky cover - full pie | overcast |
| Plot sky cover - X | Sky obscured |
| Plot sky cover - M | sky cover missing |
| Plot sky cover - ring | calm winds |
| pressure trend - 45 degree left down to right | continuously falling |
| pressure trend - 45 degree left down to right - then dash | falling then steady |
| pressure trend - 45 degree left down to right - then dash up | falling before a lesser rise |
| pressure trend - dash up - then 45 degree left down to right | rising before a greater fall |
| pressure trend - 45 degree left up to right | continuously rising |
| pressure trend - 45 degree left up to right - then dash | rising then steady |
| pressure trend - 45 degree left up to right - then dash down | rising before a lesser fall |
| pressure trend - dash down - then 45 degree left up to right | falling before a greater rise |
| pressure trend - straight line | steady |
| Winds are deflected to the _ as they move into a low pressure area in the Northern Hemisphere | right |
| Winds are deflected to the _ as they move into a low pressure area in the Southern Hemisphere | left |
Created by:
rockygb
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