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Atmospheric Movement
8th Grade Unit 14
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| atmosphere | a mixture of gases that surrounds the Earth |
| altitude | The height of an object or structure above a reference level, usually above sea level or the Earth's surface |
| Ferrel Cell | a large-scale atmospheric circulation pattern in the mid-latitudes of the Earth, where air near the surface flows towards the poles and air at higher altitudes flows back towards the equator |
| Westerlies | Permanent winds that blow in the middle latitudes. |
| Barometer | a scientific instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure |
| Global Winds | large-scale wind patterns that circulate around the Earth, driven by uneven heating from the sun, creating distinct belts of wind that move in specific directions across the planet |
| Air Mass | a large body of air with generally uniform temperature and humidity |
| Cold Front | The forward edge of an advancing mass of cold air that pushes under a mass of warm air |
| Density | a measure of how much stuff (mass) is packed into a given space (volume) |
| Air Pressure | the force exerted on a surface by the weight of the air above it, caused by gravity pulling the air molecules towards the Earth |
| Warm Front | a weather boundary where a mass of warm air is moving forward and pushing over a cooler air mass, causing the temperature to rise as the warm air replaces the cold air behind the front |
| Stationary Front | a weather system that occurs when two air masses meet and stop moving |
| Occluded Front | forms when a warm air mass gets caught between two cold air masses |
| Meteorologist | an individual with specialized education who uses scientific principles to explain, understand, observe or forecast the earth's atmospheric phenomena and/or how the atmosphere affects the earth and life on the planet. |
| Local Winds | winds that blow over a limited area of the Earth, caused by differences in air pressure |
| Sea Breeze | a gentle wind that blows from the ocean or sea toward the land. It occurs during the day when land heats up faster than water. |
| Monsoon | a seasonal change in the direction of the prevailing, or strongest, winds of a region. They cause wet and dry seasons throughout much of the tropics. |
| High-Pressure System | an area in the atmosphere where the air pressure is significantly higher than the surrounding areas, typically causing air to move outwards and often resulting in clear skies and stable weather conditions |
| Land Breeze | a wind that blows from the land towards the sea at night, occurring when the land cools faster than the water, causing cooler air over the land to move towards the warmer air over the ocean |
| Valley Breeze | a wind that occurs when air from a valley moves up a mountain slope during the day. It's caused by the sun warming the mountain slopes faster than the valley below. |
| Low-Pressure System | an area in the atmosphere where the air pressure is lower than the surrounding areas, causing air to rise and often leading to cloud formation and precipitation |
| Isobars | a line on a weather map that connects points of equal atmospheric pressure |
| Easterlies | winds that blow from the east |
| Mountain Breeze | a local wind that occurs when cooler air moves down a mountain slope at night. It's part of a larger system of wind patterns that affect local climates. |
| Weather Maps | a map showing the state of the weather over a large area. |
| Polar Cell | a small atmospheric circulation cell that moves air from the lower latitudes to the poles and back. It's the smallest and weakest of the Earth's atmospheric circulation cells. |
| Jet Streams | a fast, narrow current of air flowing from west to east that encircles the globe |
| Coriolis Effect | the apparent deflection of a moving object, like wind or ocean currents, caused by the Earth's rotation, making it curve to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere as it travels long distances across the plane |
| Hadley Cell | a pattern of atmospheric circulation in which warm air rises near the equator, cools as it travels poleward at high altitude, sinks as cold air, and warms as it travels equatorward |
Created by:
klstorie
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