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IES Exam 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Closed System | No exchange of matter, energy, and information with things outside |
| Open System | DOES exchange matter, energy, and information with the outside |
| External Forcings | Affect a system, are not affected by that system Example: Sun affects the Earth, but the Earth doesn't affect the Sun |
| Feedback Loops | Processes interacting within systems that form looped chains of causes and effects |
| Internal Forcings | Interactions among components within a system Example: As Earth warms, ice melts, and melting ice makes Earth warmer since less heat is reflected |
| Couplings | Mechanisms linking variables |
| Positive Couplings | A + B go in the same direction Example: Sweat. More heat = more sweat |
| Negative Couplings | A + B go in opposite direction Example: Ice Albedo Temperature Loop If it gets warmer, ice cover goes down and vice versa |
| Albedo | Reflectivity Earth's average is 31% Snow is 80-95% |
| Positive Feedbacks | Amplify original trend Promote instability and rapid change |
| Negative Feedbacks | Counteract original trend Stabilizing |
| Earth System is: | Dynamic |
| Electromagnetic Radiation | EMR |
| Energy | The ability to do work or change the state of matter |
| Insolation | Incoming solar radiation |
| EMR | Both energy entering and leaving Earth System Composed of waves of varying wavelengths and frequency |
| Frequency | Inversely proportional to wavelength |
| Longwave | Low frequency Lower energy per photon |
| Shortwave | High Frequency High energy per photon Wants to avoid contact |
| EMR Spectrum | Purple is shortest wavelength, red is longest of visible light |
| Sun's Radiation | Mostly shortwave |
| Earth's Radiation | Mostly longwave |
| Black Bodies | Physics theory Perfectly emit and absorb EMR at all wavelengths |
| Wein's Law | Wavelengths is proportional to temperature Shorter wavelength with higher temperature |
| Stefon-Boltzman's Law | The hotter an object gets, the more radiation it emits |
| Is the Sun a blackbody? | No, but emissions line up very closely with one |
| Is Earth a blackbody? | No. The atmosphere filters away too many parts of radiation for it to be a blackbody Greenhouse Effect |
| Earth's Energy Budget | Earth's infrared emission goes to space Longer wavelengths are thermal infrared |
| Solar EMR | Displaced as it radiates away from the Sun |
| Solar Constant | 1372 W/m^2 |
| Earth's Curvature | More concentrated insolation is received at "top" |
| Outgoing Earth Energy | Surface area for outgoing energy (night side) is greater than that for incoming energy (day side) |
| Insolation Distribution by Latitude | Low latitudes gets 2.5x more concentrated than higher latitudes Angle matters, not distance |
| Low Latitude | Equator |
| High Latitude | Poles |
| Insolation After Passage Through Atmosphere | Surface pattern is more complex due to clouds and gases that absorb and reflect some sunlight |
| Less Sun Energy in Places | With more clouds |
| Net Radiation at Top of Atmosphere | We radiate more than we get |
| Negative Net Radiation | High Latitudes |
| Positive Net Radiation | Low Latitudes |
| Energetic Imbalance | Driver of atmospheric and ocean circulation |
| Net Energy Transfer | High energy to places with low energy |
| Day | Earth spins on its axis |
| Year | Earth orbits around the Sun |
| Earth's Axis | Not perpendicular to orbital plane 23.44 degree angle |
| Axis Orientation | N. Pole points to Polaris star |
| Seasons | Occur because hemispheres alternately point away and towards the Sun |
| Atmosphere Size | 99.9% is within 50 km of Earth's surface |
| Atmosphere Properties | Gas Mixture of molecules |
| Atmosphere Interactions | Interacts w/outgoing and incoming EMR |
| Atmosphere Heat | Heated at bottom and in the middle Unstable |
| Ideal Gas Law | PV=nRT |
| Pressure | Force exerted by kinetic motion of gas molecules Happens on both sides |
| Density | Mass per unit of volume |
| Density and Pressure | Decrease as Height Increases |
| Density and Pressure Pattern Explanation | Gravity pulls air down and pressure pushes back Net pressure is upwards since more molecules are pushing up |
| Atmospheric Layers | Thermosphere Mesosphere Stratosphere Troposphere |
| Tropospheric Temperature | Colder as height increases UNSTABLE |
| Stratospheric Temperature | Warmer as height increases Heated from the top |
| Tropospheric Lapse Rate | Rate of temperature decrease with elevation 6.4 degrees C/km |
| Stability | Tendency of an air mass to remain in place |
| Warm air is... | Less dense than cold air |
| Atmosphere is stable when... | Dense air is underneath less dense air |
| Major Atmospheric Gases | Nitrogen, Oxygen, Argon Make up 99.9% of atmosphere |
| Trace Atmospheric Gases | Water Vapor (0-4%), Carbon Dioxide (419 ppm), Methane, Ozone Others: Nitrous Dioxides, Sulfates, etc. |
| Aerosols | Dust and other small particles Minor atmospheric component |
| Aerosols Impact | Affect passage of sunlight through atmosphere and cloud formation |
| Anthropogenic Effects on Atmosphere | Pollutants (Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Nitrogen Oxides, VOCs, Ozone, etc.) |
| Ozone Layer | Shields us from UV radiation Most is in stratosphere |
| Chlorine | Catalyst of Ozone destruction Released in breakdown of CFCs and HCFCs |
| Ozone Hole | Natural phenomenon Increased in 1970s-2000s due to human activity |
| Montreal Protocol | CFC Production to end by 2010 |
| Emission | Converts heat energy into EMR Loses energy in process(?) Energy turns into "light" to be emitted away |
| Transmissions | Energy/light passes through an object while light/energy is unaffected |
| Absorption | Converts EMR into heat energy Gains energy in process |
| Reflection | Energy is redirected but not gained or lost Albedo |
| Scattering | Redirection, not gain/loss Diffuse radiation |
| Water Albedo | High angle (perpendicular)= high absorption low albedo Low angle (oblique) = high reflectivity high albedo |
| High Global Albedo | High latitude oceans Cloud cover area Poles |
| Global Albedo | Changes seasonally |
| Rayleigh Scattering | Short wavelengths scatter more easily than long |
| Sky is Blue? | Blue has short wavelength, so everything else is scattered away |
| Sunsets Red? | Longer path due to Sun position, so there's more time and longer path for longer wavelengths to scatter |
| Greenhouse Effect | Atmosphere keeps certain gases and radiation out, but also traps some in Makes planet warmer and habitable |
| Atmospheric Composition and Greenhouse Effect | 99% of air doesn't interact with radiation |
| Polar Molecules | Generate EM field (vibration) and make it possible to absorb infrared EMR Water |
| Nonpolar Molecules | Don't vibrate and attract EMR |
| Atmosphere is Transparent | to solar shortwave |
| Atmosphere is Opaque | to terrestrial longwave |
| Clouds | Reflect incoming sunlight and trap outgoing longwave radiation |
| High Clouds | Warm the Earth |
| Low Clouds | Cool the Earth |
| Direct Effect Aerosols | Absorb and scatter shortwave radiation |
| Indirect Effect Aerosols | Nucleation sites for water droplets Cloud formation |
| Sensible Heat | Heat energy that results in a change in temperature State is unchanged, temperature rises |
| Latent Heat | Heat energy resulting in a change in phase |
| Conduction | Heat transfers by contact Mostly solids |
| Convection | Heat transfer by movement of fluid masses (liquid and gas) Primarily vertical |
| Advection | Convection, but mostly horizontal Wind |
| Latent and Sensible Heat in Atmosphere | Atmosphere is always circulating both |
| Planetary Energy Balance Components | Shortwave EMR Longwave EMR Heat Energy |
| Planetary Energy Balance Layers | Top of atmosphere Atmosphere Earth's Surface |
| Planetary Energy Balance Assumptions | Everything in balance Consistent throughout all of planet |
| Outgoing Shortwave from TOA | Highest in highest albedo areas Tropical Clouds Mid/high lat. Water Polar Ice |
| Outgoing Longwave from TOA | Highest in low latitudes except for cloudiest areas (Stefon-Boltzman) |
| Net Radiation at TOA | Positive at Low Latitudes Negative at High Latitudes |
| Surface Losses of Latent Heat | Highest in warm, wet areas Requires water to evaporate |
| Surface Losses of Sensible Heat | Highest in warm, dry areas Higher when latent is low |
| Global Temperature Patterns | Controlled by global energy budget |
| Latitude Temperatures | Highest near Equator Sunlight most concentrated at Equator |
| Elevation Temperatures | Colder at higher latitudes |
| Oceans vs. Land | Oceans have higher specific heat, so temperatures are more season dependent and less fluid Sea Breeze/Land Breeze |
| Transport of Heat Energy | High to low (Tropics to Poles) |
| Weather | Determined by atmospheric circulation |
| Atmospheric Forces Driven By: | Gravity Buoyancy Pressure Gradient Force Coriolis Force Friction |
| Buoyancy | Less dense fluids surrounded by more dense air will float |
| PG Force | Pushes air down PG Direction of force of perpendicular to isobars |
| Strongest Wind | When PG are steep |
| Coriolis Force | Acts perpendicular to direction of travel Deflects moving objects |
| Coriolis N. Hemisphere | Deflects objects to the RIGHT |
| Coriolis in S. Hemisphere | Deflects objects to the LEFT |
| Angular Momentum | Momentum (Mass x velocity) around a rotational point |
| Coriolis Force Emerges From: | Earth's Rotation Conservation of Momentum |
| Angular Velocity | Higher at Equator than Poles |
| Coriolis Consequences | Objects will have momentum of starting location and their straight path is deflected to R or L based on hemisphere Plane |
| Coriolis Strength | Proportional to velocity of object (more deflection w/higher V) Proportional to latitude (strongest at high lats, lowest at Equator) |
| Vorticity | Local spinning motion of a fluid |
| Vorticity Cause | Spin of Earth and curved surface |
| Vorticity Scale | Highest at Poles (most spinning) Zero at Equator (no spinning besides just Earth's rotation) |
| Friction | Slows objects Very low in upper atmosphere |
| Geostrophic Flow | Wind patterns that result from interaction between Coriolis and PG force |
| Geostrophic Flow Equilibrium | PG and Coriolis are equal and opposed Air is Parallel to PG |
| Lower Atmosphere Winds | Wind crosses isobars in between Not Parallel |
| Low Pressure Zones | Air flows inwards (converges) Cyclonic Rotation (counterclockwise) in N Hemisphere |
| High Pressure Zones | Air flows outwards (diverges) Anti-Cyclonic Rotation (Clockwise) in N. Hemisphere |
| Geostrophic Flow Location | Typical in upper atmosphere where there isn't any friction |
| Tropopause | Upper boundary of troposphere Average height: 15 km Altitude varies w/Latitude |
| Sea Breeze | Air moves water to land High pressure water, low pressure land |
| Land Breeze | Air moves land to water High pressure land to low pressure water |
| Direct Radiation | Incoming radiation from the Sun |
Created by:
Eliana.s
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