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Ch. 11 Science Vocab
Movement in the Atmosphere
| Definition | word |
|---|---|
| A large body of Air that has somewhat uniform temperatureand humidity and covers hundreds or thousands of sqare km. of the earths surface | Air Mass |
| An extensive area of the earth's surface characterized by essentially uniform surface conditions and so situated with respect to the general atmospheric circulation that an air mass may remain over it long enough to acquire its characteristic properties. | Source Region |
| An air mass that is Warmer than the Earths surface | Warm Air Mass |
| When an air mass boundary is not moving | Stationary Front |
| If warmer air is replacing colder air | Warm Front |
| If colder air is replacing warmer air | Cold Front |
| a line or extended narrow region within which squalls or thunderstorms occur, often several hundred miles long. | Squall Line |
| a composite front formed when a cold front overtakes a warm front and forces it aloft | Occluded Front |
| the seasonal wind of the Indian ocean and southern Asia, blowing from the southwest in summer and from the northeast in winter | Monsoon |
| The change in atmospheric pressure per unit horizontal distance, usually measured along a line perpendicular to the isobars | Pressure Gradient Force |
| That horizontal wind velocity for which the Coriolis acceleration exactly balances the horizontal pressure force. | Geostrophic Wind |
| An atmospheric system characterized by the rapid inward circulation of air masses about a low-pressure center, usually accompanied by stormy,often destructive weather | Cyclone |
| An extensive system of winds spiraling outward from a high-pressure center, circling clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere | Anticycle |
| A high-speed, meandering wind current, generally moving from a westerly direction at speeds often exceeding 400 kilometers (250 miles) per hour at altitudes of 10 to 15 kilometers (6 to 9 miles). | Jet Streams |
| A cool breeze blowing from the sea toward the land. | Sea Breeze |
| A breeze that blows from the land toward open water | Land Breeze |
| A gentle wind blowing up a valley or mountain slope in the absence of cyclonic or anticyclonic winds, caused by the warming of the mountainside and valley floor by the sun | Valley Breeze |
| A breeze that blows down a mountain slope due to the gravitational flow of cooled air. Also known as mountain wind | Mountain Breeze |
| Any of a consistent system of prevailing winds occupying most of the tropics, constituting the major component of the general circulation of the atmosphere, and blowing northeasterly in the Northern Hemisphere and southeasterly in the Southern Hemisphere | Trade Winds |
| The prevailing westerly winds on the poleward sides of the subtropical high-pressure belts | Prevailing Westerly |
| The rather shallow and diffuse body of easterly winds located poleward of the subpolar low-pressure belt; in the mean in the Northern Hemisphere, these easterlies exist to an appreciable extent only north of the Aleutian low and Icelandic low. | Polar Easterlies |
| A region of the ocean near the equator, characterized by calms, light winds, or squalls. | doldrums |
| Either of two belts of latitudes located over the oceans at about 30° to 35° north and south, having high barometric pressure, calms, and light, changeable winds. | Horse Latitudes |
| A belt of low pressure located, in the mean, between 50 and 70° latitude; in the Northern Hemisphere, this belt consists of the Aleutian low and the Icelandic low; in the Southern Hemisphere, | Subpolar Low |
| A mass of cold, heavy air, centred at the poles, and produced by downward, vertical air currents from the polar vortex, bringing high pressure at high latitudes | Polar High |
| A storm characterized by thunder and lightning caused by strong rising air currents; | Thunderstorms |
| The swollen upper portion of a thundercloud, usually associated with the development of a thunderstorm. | Thunderhead |
| a.An abrupt, discontinuous natural electric discharge in the atmosphere. | Lightning |
| The initial streamer of a lightning discharge; an intermittently advancing column of high ion density which established the channel for subsequent return streamers and dart leaders. | Steppped Leader |
| The intensely luminous streamer which propagates upward from earth to cloud base in the last phase of each lightning stroke of a cloud-to-ground discharge. Also known as main stroke; return streamer. | Return Stroke |
| A common form of lightning, in a cloud-to-ground discharge, which exhibits downward-directed branches from the main lightning channel | Forked Lightning |
| A rotating column of air ranging in width from a few yards to more than a mile and whirling at destructively high speeds, usually accompanied by a funnel-shaped downward extension of a cumulonimbus cloud | Tornado |
| An undesirable, very vigorous vertical shoot that forms on trees, usually in response to severe pruning. Also called watershoot | Watersprout |
| tropical cyclone—a system that can become intense and long-lived if the conditions are right | Hurricane |
| A tropical cyclone occurring in the western Pacific or Indian oceans | typhoon |
| The circular area of relative calm at the center of a cyclone. | eye |
| a long, often massive and wave or succession of waves without crests caused by a hurricane | storm swell |
| A rise above normal water level on the open coast due only to the action of wind stress on the water surface; includes the rise in level due to atmospheric pressure reduction as well as that due to wind stress. Also known as storm wave; surge | storm surge |
| A grounded metal rod placed high on a structure to prevent damage by conducting lightning to the ground | lightning rod |
| An air mass that is cooler than the Earths surface | Cold Air Mass |
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AGuyFromYesterday
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