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GreenfieldMeteor2
Weather and Meteorology
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Ozone | Three oxygen atoms bonded together in an O3 molecule. Ozone in the lower atmosphere is a pollutant but in the upper atmosphere protects life from ultraviolet radiation. |
Troposphere | The lowermost layer of the atmosphere; temperature decreases with altitude. |
Stratosphere | Above the troposphere; temperature increases with altitude because of the presence of ozone. |
Mesosphere | Layer between the stratosphere and thermosphere; temperature decreases with altitude. |
Thermosphere | The outer atmosphere where gases are extremely thinly distributed. Also the hottest layer. |
Conduction | The process in which energy moves from a location of higher temperature to a location of lower temperature as heat. The material does not move, just the heat. |
Convection | The movement of material due to differences in temperature. |
Radiation | The movement of energy through empty space between objects by electromagnetic waves. |
Scattering | Reflection of light in all direction- occurs when particles and gases in the atmosphere disperse light in all directions |
Greenhouse Effect | The trapping of heat by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere; moderates temperatures. |
Isotherms | Lines connecting locations that have equal temperatures. |
Precipitation | Water that falls from the sky as rain, snow, sleet, or hail. |
Evaporation | The change in a substance from a liquid to a gas by the addition of energy. |
Condensation | The change in a substance from a gas to a liquid, releases energy. |
Condensation Nuclei | Small particles typically 0.2 µm, or 1/100th the size of a cloud droplet on which water vapour condenses. |
Cirrus | Cloud forming wispy filamentous tufted streaks at high altitudes |
Cumulus | A cloud forming rounded masses heaped on each other above a flat base at fairly low altitude. |
Coriolis Effect | The apparent deflection of a freely moving object like water or air because of Earth's rotation. |
Cyclone | Wind system that rotates counter-clockwise around a low pressure center. |
Saturated | The state of the atmosphere in which air contains the maximum amount of water vapor that it can hold at a specific temperature and air pressure. |
Stratus | Cloud forming a continuous horizontal gray sheet, often with rain or snow. |
Stationary Front | A stalled front in which the air does not move. |
Storm Surge | A rising of the sea as a result of atmospheric pressure changes and wind associated with a storm. |
Humidity | The amount of water vapor held in the air. |
Dewpoint | The temperature at which air is saturated with water vapor; when it has 100% humidity. |
Polar Easterlies | Dry, cold prevailing winds that blow from the high-pressure areas of the polar highs at the north and south poles towards low-pressure areas within the Westerlies at high latitudes. |
Weather Front | A boundary separating two masses of air of different densities, and is the principal cause of meteorological phenomena. |
Westerlies | The belt of prevailing westerly winds in the mid-latitudes of the northern and southern hemispheres. |
Air Pressure | The force of air pressing on a given area. |
Anti-cyclone | Wind system that rotates clockwise around a high pressure center. |
Anemometer | an instrument for measuring the speed of the wind, or of any current of gas. |
Air Mass | A large mass of air with the same temperature and humidity characteristics. |
Barometer | An instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure. |
Jet Stream | A fast-flowing river of air high in the atmosphere, where air masses with two very different sets of temperature and humidity characteristics move past each other. |
Trade Winds | a wind blowing steadily toward the equator from the northeast in the northern hemisphere or the southeast in the southern hemisphere, especially at sea. |
El Nino | A natural climate variation in which the trade winds weaken or reverse directions, and warm water accumulates on the ocean surface off of South America. |
Occluded Front | A front in which a cold front overtakes a warm front. |
Stationary Front | A type of front which has a pair of air masses in which neither is strong enough to replace or move the other; it can produce several days of overcast or rainy weather |