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Geography LAB 2026
Geography LAB Midterm for fall semester 2026
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Latitude / Parallels | Horizontal lines measuring distance north or south of the Equator (0°–90°) |
| Longitude / Meridians | Vertical lines measuring distance east or west of the Prime Meridian (0°–180°) |
| Equator | 0° latitude; the only parallel that is a great circle |
| Prime Meridian | 0° longitude, through Greenwich, England |
| Great circle | Any circle that cuts Earth into two equal halves; the shortest route between two points |
| Oblate spheroid | Earth's true shape: slightly flattened at the poles and bulging at the Equator |
| Nautical mile | One minute of latitude (about 1.15 statute miles) |
| Knot | Speed of one nautical mile per hour |
| Representative fraction (RF) | Scale written as a unitless ratio, e.g. 1:24,000 |
| Isoline | Line on a map connecting points of equal value |
| Isotherm | Isoline of equal temperature |
| Isobar | Isoline of equal air pressure |
| Contour line | Isoline of equal elevation |
| Contour interval | Difference in elevation between neighboring contour lines |
| Relief | Difference between the highest and lowest elevation in an area |
| Topographic profile | Cross-section view of elevation along a line on a map |
| Vertical exaggeration | How many times the vertical scale is stretched compared with the horizontal scale |
| Interpolation | Estimating a value between two known points |
| Rotation | Earth spinning on its axis once every 24 hours (causes day and night) |
| Revolution | Earth's orbit around the Sun once a year |
| Axial tilt | 23.5° lean of Earth's axis |
| Insolation | Incoming solar radiation |
| Angle of incidence | The angle at which the Sun's rays strike Earth's surface |
| Subsolar point | Location where the Sun is directly overhead (90°) at noon |
| Solar declination | Latitude of the subsolar point on a given day |
| Vertical ray | Ray striking at 90° (at the subsolar point) |
| Oblique ray | Ray striking at less than 90°; spreads energy over a larger area |
| Tangent ray | Ray that just grazes Earth at the edge of the circle of illumination (0°) |
| Circle of illumination | Boundary between the day side and night side of Earth |
| Perihelion | Closest about jan 3 in Earth's orbit |
| aphelion | farthest (about Jul 4) point in Earth's orbit (think afar) |
| Proxy data | Preserved physical evidence used to reconstruct past climate (tree rings, ice cores, pollen, sediments) |
| Paleoclimatology | The study of past climates |
| Dendrochronology | The study of tree rings to date events and reconstruct past environmental conditions |
| Early Wood | Light, fast spring growth |
| Late wood | Dark, dense late-season growth |
| Cross-dating | Matching ring patterns between samples to build a longer record |
| Tree corer | Hollow drill that removes a thin core without harming the tree typically used for proxy data now |
| Ice Core | Cylinder of ice drilled from a glacier or ice sheet |
| Fossil Air | Ancient air trapped in bubbles in ice |
| PPM | Parts per million, the unit for CO2 concentration |
| Remote sensing | Collecting data about a surface from a distance, without contact with |
| Passive sensor | Records reflected sunlight or emitted energy (e.g., Landsat, cameras) |
| Active sensor | Emits its own energy and records the return (e.g., radar, lidar) |
| Spatial Resolution | Ground size of one pixel; smaller pixels sow finer detail |
| Electromagnetic Spectrum | Range of energy wavelengths: microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet |
| False color Spectrum | Image that displays non-visible bands (like near infrared) in visible colors |
| GIS | Software system for layering and analyzing spatial data |
| GPS | Satellite system that pinpoints a location on earth |
| Afforestation/ Woody encroachment | Increase in trees and shrubs where they were not before, such as on a prairie |
| Prescribed Burn | Planned controlled fire used to manage land |
| KARS | Kansas Applied Remote Sensing program at KU, source of KS land cover data |
| Albedo | Fraction of incoming solar radiation reflected by a surface |
| Absorption and how to calculate | Energy taken in by a surface, which raises its temperature (fraction absorbed = 1- albedo) |
| Infrared Thermometer | Tool that measures surface temperature from the infrared energy the surface gives off |
| Aspect | The compass direction a slope or wall faces |
| Ice-albedo feedback | Melting ice exposes darker surfaces, which absorb more energy and causes more melting |
| Specific Humidity | Mass of water vapor in a mass of air (g/kg) |
| Max specific humidity | Most water vapor air can hold at its currecnt temperature |
| Relative Humidity | Actual water vapor compared with he maximum possible at that temperature as a percentage |
| Absolute Humidity | Mass of water vapor in a volume of air |
| Saturation | Air holding all the water vapor it can (100% RH) |
| Dew Point Temperature | Temperature to which air must be cooled to reach 100% RH and begin condensing |
| Condensation | Water vapor changing to liquid, Releases latent hear |
| Evaporation | Liquid water changing to vapor, absorbs latent heat |
| Latent heat | Energy stored in water vapor and released when it condenses |
| Sling Psychrometer | Instrument with a dry bulb and a wet bulb thermometer, used to find RH Dry bulb temperatures minus wet bulb temperature |
| Wet Bulb Depression | Dry bulb temperature minus wet bulb temperature |
| Lifting condensation level | Height at which rising air cold to its dew point and clouds form |
| Air Mass | Large body of air with similar temperature and humidity throughout |
| Front | Boundary between two different air masses |
| Station Model | Standard set of symbols showing the weather at one station |
| Knot | One nautical mile per hour (about 1.15 mph) |
| Millibar (mb) | Unit of air pressure; average sea level pressure is about 1013 mb |
| Thunderstorm | Brief, local storm with thunder and lighting |
| Tornado | Sever, narrow storm of fast, swirling winds |
| Hurricane | Large tropical cyclone with heavy rain and strong winds |
| Winter storm | Severe storm with snow and ice |
| Viscosity | Resistance to flow; thickness |
| Silica | SiO₂; more silica makes magma more viscous |
| Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) | Scale from 0 to 8 measuring the explosive power of eruptions |
| Effusive Eruption | Gentle eruption of flowing lava |
| Explosive eruption | Violent eruption that blasts out ash and rock fragments |
| Nucleation site | Rough surface where gas bubbles |
| Vesicle | Hole left by a gas bubble in volcanic rock |
| Pumic | Light, Glassy, vesicle-filled rock from explosive eruptions |
| Pyroclastic flow | Fast-moving avalanche of hot gas, ash, and rock |
| Lahar | Volcanic Mudflow |
| Fault | A fracture in the crust along which rocks have moved |
| Hanging wall/ footwall | Block above / below a slanted fault plane |
| Normal Fault | Caused by tension; hanging wall moves down |
| Revers Fault | Caused by compression; hanging wall moves up |
| Strike-Slip Fault | Caused by shear; blocks slide past each other horizontally |
| Oblique slip | Fault motion that combines sideways and up or down movements |
| Focus(hypocenter) | Underground point where an earthquake starts |
| Epicenter | Point on the surface directly above the focus |
| Seismometer | Instrument that measures ground motion |
| Subduction Zone | Where one plate sinks beneath another at a convergent boundary |
| Divergent / Convergent / Transform | Plate boundaries where plates pull apart / collide / slide alongside each other |
| Induced seismicity | Earthquakes triggered by human activity |
Created by:
Trintrindarling