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CDC URE > 5A-1 Gen Met and Sfc Wx Obs > Flashcards

5A-1 Gen Met and Sfc Wx Obs Flashcards

0
Q

The stratosphere is characterized by

A

A temperature that remains isothermal to about 100,000 ft, the strongest concentration of ozone, and excellent flying conditions

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1
Q

How many degrees centigrade does the temperature decrease per 1000 meters of altitude in the troposphere?

A

6.5

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2
Q

Above 13 miles, the radiation from the sun breaks down the oxygen in the atmosphere into

A

Ozone gas

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3
Q

Which statement best describes water vapor in the atmosphere?

A

The more water vapor, the lighter the air will be

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4
Q

The two atmospheric gases most responsible for the absorption of incoming solar radiation are

A

Oxygen and ozone

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5
Q

The driving mechanism that is mainly responsible for the earth’s large-scale atmospheric circulations is the

A

Unequal heating of the earth

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6
Q

Which force is described as any center-seeking force?

A

Centripetal

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7
Q

Which force is the “equal and opposite reaction” to the center-seeking force?

A

Centrifugal

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8
Q

Centrifugal force (CeF) will increase when there is a decrease in

A

The radius of rotation

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9
Q

Coriolis force (CoF) is created by

A

The cyclonic rotation of the earth

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10
Q

If you throw a ball towards a stationary target from the window of a speeding vehicle, Coriolis force (CoF) will cause the ball to miss target

A

To the right

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11
Q

The force that is responsible for starting the horizontal movement of air over earth’s surface

A

Pressure gradient

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12
Q

The balance of forces needed for gradient cyclonic circulation is pressure gradient

A

Balanced against Coriolis and centrifugal forces

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13
Q

The areas of low pressure that correspond to the belt of low pressure at 60 deg N created by the 3-cell circulation are the

A

Icelandic and Aleutian Lows

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14
Q

In relation to the jet core, the greatest vertical wind shear is usually located

A

Above the jet core

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15
Q

In relation to the jet core, the greatest horizontal wind shear is usually located

A

North of the jet core

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16
Q

The simplest method for locating the 500 millibar frontal zone is to

A

Locate the position of the -17C isotherm

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17
Q

The width of the jet stream core is approximately equal to the

A

Width of the 500 millibar isotherm ribbon

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18
Q

Where are the greatest velocities located in relation to the subtropical jet (STJ)?

A

In the region of confluence of the STJ and polar front jet (PFJ)

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19
Q

Jet fingers suggest

A

That the jet stream is beginning to dissipate

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20
Q

Converging contours downstream of the jet stream will cause the jet to

A

Deflect toward lower heights

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21
Q

Using average surface frontal slopes, how far ahead of the surface warm front is the jet stream located?

A

300 miles

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22
Q

Which heat transfer process involves the transfer of energy by molecular motion from hot to cold objects?

A

Conduction

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23
Q

Advection transfers temperature

A

Horizontally by the wind

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24
Q

What factors must a region possess in order to facilitate air mass formation?

A

Uniform surface
Stagnant air
Large-scale difluent flow

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25
Q

Which process is most responsible for the slow formation of sir masses in the polar region?

A

Loss of heat by radiation

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26
Q

Air mass stability characteristics often depend on the temperature difference between the

A

Air mass and the surface over which it is traveling

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27
Q

How would you classify a stable air mass that formed over land in the Arctic has now moved over the ocean’s warmer surface?

A

cAks

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28
Q

What air mass classification signifies an unstable, maritime tropical air mass that is colder than the surface it is moving over?

A

mTku

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29
Q

What air mass classification signifies a stable, continental polar air mass that is warmer than the surface it is moving over?

A

cPws

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30
Q

What air mass forms over land only during the summer?

A

cT

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31
Q

As an air mass is heated from below, there will be increased

A

Instability and an increased lapse rate

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32
Q

It is winter. A cPk air mass is moving over the Great Lakes. In this situation, the southern shores of the Great Lakes will experience

A

Heavy snow

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33
Q

Which air mass involves most of the wintertime storms for the North American Pacific coast?

A

mT

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34
Q

Continental tropical air masses are usually associated with

A

Thermal lows

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35
Q

The rate that an air mass modifies depends on the

A

Temperature differences between the new surface and the air mass, the nature of the surface over which it moves, and the speed with which the air mass travels

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36
Q

The weather characteristics of a particular month in a given locality are governed by

A

Effects of local topography and proximity to a zone of convergence

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37
Q

Surface pressure changes are largely controlled by

A

Mass changes in the upper troposphere

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38
Q

Horizontal divergence within an air mass will

A

Vertically contract the original column of air and then expand it horizontally

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39
Q

As air converges at the surface and toward the center of a layer, there will be horizontal

A

Contraction and vertical expansion

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40
Q

An increase of mass in a column of air will cause the surface pressure to

A

Increase

41
Q

In the chimney effect, the maximum upward vertical wind motion will be located

A

At the level of nondivergence (LND)

42
Q

The primary cause of surface pressure changes for a dynamic low is net

A

Divergence aloft

43
Q

The damper effect is comprised of upper-level

A

Convergence and surface high pressure

44
Q

A low-pressure system undergoing cyclogenesis is said to be

A

Forming or deepening

45
Q

When the central pressure of an anticyclone is rising, you can infer the anticyclone is

A

Building

46
Q

A high-pressure system undergoes anticyclolysis when the clockwise circulation area

A

Decreases or disappears

47
Q

An unstable wave cyclone is one where the amplitude

A

Increases with time and the wave deepens

48
Q

After warm air with an unstable wave is pushed aloft and cuts off from a cyclone, the cyclone will become

A

Barotropic and begin to fill

49
Q

Unstable waves are classified as

A

Baroclinic lows

50
Q

In the baroclinic instability process,

A

Potential energy is transferred to the major short wave by thermal advection

51
Q

When using Petterssen’s rule, the factors needed for cyclogenesis are upper-level

A

Divergence and a frontal zone where the thermal advection is weak

52
Q

What causes the surface low to deepen during the self- development process?

A

Divergence aloft

53
Q

A low dissipates after proceeding through it’s entire life cycle which ranges from the

A

Bottom up as boundary layer convergence adds mass to the column of air

54
Q

How many stages are there in the life cycle of a low?

A

Five

55
Q

In the life cycle of a low, the system will evolve into a cold barotropic low in the

A

Dissipation stage

56
Q

Anticyclogenesis typically occurs at, and just downstream from, long-wave

A

Ridges under confluent flow aloft

57
Q

What causes a surface high to build during the self-development process?

A

Convergence aloft

58
Q

Which is primarily responsible for low-level divergence acting as a braking mechanism for a high?

A

Friction

59
Q

A warm barotropic high is a type of pressure system that

A

Has great vertical extent and is usually found over water areas

60
Q

In regards to types of pressure systems, a heat low is a

A

Warm barotropic low that forms during the summer

61
Q

With the passage of a cold front in the Northern Hemisphere, the horizontal wind direction will

A

Shift in a clockwise direction

62
Q

The cold conveyor belt originates in the low levels that are located

A

East of a low center and flow westward

63
Q

The average slope of a cold front is

A

1/30 to 1/100

64
Q

A warm frontal occlusion occurs when the cool air

A

Behind the cold front overrides the colder air ahead of the warm front

65
Q

In comparison to an active cold front, an inactive cold front is characterized by a relatively

A

Steeper slope, a narrow weather pattern, and is called katafront

66
Q

When an inactive front passes your station, the dew points will

A

Decrease sharply with the passage

67
Q

When only high and middle clouds are associated with a warm front, the

A

Overrunning warm air is dry

68
Q

In a cold occlusion, the coldest air is found

A

Behind the cold front

69
Q

In a cold occlusion, which type of front, if any, is found aloft?

A

The warm front

70
Q

Frontogenesis requires two adjacent air masses with

A

Different densities and a wind flow to bring the air masses together

71
Q

The frontolytic processes are most effective

A

In the lower layers of the atmosphere

72
Q

The difference in cloud classification between L1 and L7 is

A

Precipitation

73
Q

Which low cloud type and classification is identified by the presence of a cirriform anvil?

A

Cumulonimbus L9

74
Q

The best way to distinguish stratocumulus from altocumulus clouds is to use

A

The size of the elements

75
Q

A corona is often present at night with

A

Altocumulus clouds

76
Q

Cirrus clouds in the form of an anvil are classified as

A

H3

77
Q

Which high cloud can occasionally be so transparent that the only indication of its presence is a halo phenomenon?

A

H7

78
Q

Which high cloud classification is also referred to as a mackerel sky?

A

Cirrocumulus-H9

79
Q

Which orographic cloud resembles an almond or a fish?

A

Lenticular

80
Q

Clouds or obscuring phenomena that have bases at the same approximate level is the definition of

A

A layer

81
Q

What color ballon would you use to determine the ceiling heights of thin clouds?

A

Red

82
Q

You are preparing to use a convective cloud height table to determine the heights of clouds. To do this properly, you must first determine the

A

Dew-point temperature and free-air temperature

83
Q

How do you report prevailing visibility at US stations and overseas stations?

A

Statue miles for US stations and meters for overseas stations

84
Q

To properly report the visibility for more than one sector, you wiped list the sectors in a

A

Clockwise direction starting with the northernmost sector

85
Q

For a RVR report of R22/1000V1600FT, what is the visual range that a pilot can expect to see down the runway?

A

1,000 to 1,600 feet varying

86
Q

What type of precipitation might you observe with clear skies?

A

Ice crystals

87
Q

You would classify precipitation as intermittent if it

A

Stopped and started at least once within the preceding hour

88
Q

When frozen precipitation is expected, you would

A

Collect it in the overflow unit of the rain gauge

89
Q

The distinguishing feature of any tornadic activity is

A

The funnel-shaped appendage that hangs from the base of the cloud

90
Q

A thunderstorm is present and occurring at your station. In addition, the local noise level is preventing you from hearing the thunderstorm. For observation purposes you would say

A

Hail is falling

91
Q

A thunderstorm officially ends

A

Fifteen minutes after the last occurrence of thunder, hail, or lightning

92
Q

For observing purposes, five hydrometers are considered to be obstructions to vision. They include mist, fog, blowing snow,

A

Freezing fog, and blowing spray

93
Q

Blowing spray is reported only at sea stations near large bodies of water and when visibility at eye level is restricted to

A

9,000 meters or less

94
Q

What pressure value is the basis for determining all other pressure values?

A

Station pressure

95
Q

What is the reference level for all pressure values?

A

Sea-level pressure

96
Q

The temperature to which a given parcel of air must be cooled, with constant water vapor content and pressure, to reach saturation is called

A

The wet-bulb temperature

97
Q

The temperature an air parcel would have if it were cooled adiabatically to saturation at constant pressure by evaporation of water into it is called

A

Wet-bulb temperature

98
Q

Wind observing equipment is oriented to

A

Magnetic north

99
Q

A change in wind direction of 45 degrees (or more) that takes place in less than 15 minutes is

A

Wind shift

CDC URE (9 decks)

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