atmosphere Flashcards
Weather
constantly changing over short period of time
Climate
generalized weather over long period of time
is climate the average of weather?
no, sum of all statisstical weather info
Can climate data predict weather
climate is what you __, weather is what you ___
no
expect; get
what are the two gases that make up 99% of clean dry air
what percent of the 99 does each make up
nitrogen and oxygen
nitrogen: 78%; oxygen: 21%
what is the remaining one percent of air
argon and other gases
is carbon a good absorber? of what?
yes, of energy emmited by earth
humidity
lots of water vapor in air
variable components of air
aerosols, water vapor, ozone
water vapor is the source of 2 things
is it an absorber?
precipitation
clouds
yes, absorber of heat and solar energy
what are aerosols
tiny solid and liquid particles
why are aerosols significant?
place for water vapor to condense to clouds
reflect/absorb solar radiation
colors to our sunset
what is ozone chemical formula?
O3 (3 oxygens)
describe the distribution, content, and location of ozone?
not uniform
little of it
stratosphere
describe the distribution, content, and location of ozone?
not uniform
little of it
stratosphere
why is ozone important to liffe on earth?
is it important to oceans?
absorbs ultraviolet radiation (o2 splits in o, o+02))
no, oceans already filter UV radiaation
atmospheric pressure
weight of air above
does pressure increase or decrease with increasing latitiude
decreasse
troposphere
what occurs here
lowermost layer
altitude increases=low pressure
environmental lapse rate
temp decrease ein troposphere
normal lapse rate
6 degrees C per km
thickness of troposphere
temp and altitude relationship
varies
higher altitude=drop in temp
tropopause
the outer boundary of troposphere
how can the environmental lapse be calculated?
radiosonde
where does all weather occur?
troposphere
what is the stratosphere
layer above troposphere
what is the outer boundary of the stratosphere called
stratopause
how does temp behave from the start of stratosphere to stratopause
increasing bc presence of ozone (absorbs uv = heat)
mesosphere
layer above stratosphere
what is special about the menopause
coldest of atmosphere (temp decreases as you go up)
Thermosphere
layer above the mesosphere
what happens at the thermosphere temp
limit
temp increaseing bc gasess absorbing short wave radiation and moving fast
not defined
whats the axis
line through npole and spole
what causes the seasons
changing amount of daylight
change of noon sun
what does the intensity of solar raadiation depend on
angle of sun
higher sun angle =more intense
relationship btw solar ray paths and angle
high angle: short path
low angle: longer path, sunlight more spread out, less intense
where’s the eonly place that gets 90 degree sunlight
what about the other latitudes
equatot
deecreased ssun angle=less intense
what is the relationship btw the sun angle and solar radiation in each 30 degree segment
as you go to polees, the length decreases (low angle of sun) and the solar radiation is less intense
what is the inclination of the axis
23.5
when are the solstices?
december
june
when is the earth tilted toward sun
which hemisphere is ummer solsitice
june
northern
when is the earth tilted away from the sun
which hemisphere is winter solsice
december
northern
what lline vertically strikes at the summer solstice? winter solstice?
tropic of cancer
tropic of capricorn
when are the equinoxes?
what are the direct sunlights hitting
spring equinox hemi vs fall
spring:march
fall: september
equatorr
spring: northern, fall: nouthern
for those living in the northern hemisoherem wich seasons are used for march and september
sourhtern hemi
march:spring
september: fall
march: fall; september: spring
length of daylight everywhere on equinox
12 hrs
as you inceraase your latitiude in the northern hemisphere, the length of daylight for the summer solsitice
increases
heat aka
thermal energy
temperature
avg kinetic energy of stoms, intensity of hotness
How does the angle of the noonday sun change over the year?
noon sun crosssess equator twxce and loops around tropic of carpicorn and tropic of cancer
conduction
convection
milecular activity
mass movement circulation
how does solar energy reach our planet
radiation
speed of light
300,000km per second
which waves have the longest wave length
shortest
radio
gamma
what color of visible light is the longest wave length
shortest
red
violet
what part of the electromagnetic spectrum -infrared or ultravioolet- has shorter wavelengths
ultraaviolet
laws of radiation
- all things emit radiation
- hotter=emit more radiaition
- hotter objects=emit more radiant energy in short wavelength
- good absorbers=good emmitterss
earth to sun radiaiton vs sun to earth
sun to tearth: short wave
long wave
results of radiation striking object
- absorbed: converted to heat–> temp increases
- transmit: no temp dif
- reflection and scattering/albedo
why is the atmosphere transparent to incoming solar rradiaiton
50% absorbed at surface
what percentage of incoming solar radiaiton is reflected and scaattered back to space
30%
what is the percentage of solar radiation that is absorbed by clouds and gases in the atmosphere
20%
reflections
light bounces back at same angle it was recieved at same intensity
scattering
radiation deviates from trajectory caused by striking particles in atmossphere, splitting into many weak waves
how is energy returned to space
reflection
emmisison of radiant energy
albedo
fraction of total radiation reflected
albedo of earth as whole
30%
how is albedo affected by sun angle
low sun angle=more atmosphere to penetrate through=more loss of solar radiaiton
is nitrogen a good obsorber ot poor obsorber of incoming solar radiatioin
poor
oxygen’s relationship with ultraaviolet rays
removes them from atmosphere
what is a significcant abosrver of uv
water vapor
what is the atmosphere a good absorber of?
long waves emitted by earth (terrestrial radiaiton)
what are the primary absorbingg gases
water vapor and co2
wave lengths of cool objectss
longer
greenhosue effect
after gases in atmosphere absorb radiation from earth, they raduate it skyward or earthward for it to be reabsorbed
does earth’s surface mit ultraviolet, visble, or infrared radiation
infrared
things with high albedos will be good or bad absorbers?
bad
desrbie the temp of atmosphere above albedos
high albedos: warm
low: not warm
high albedos
low
snow water
asphalt
tf: the heating of earth’s surface affects the heating of air above
true
difference btw land and water
land heats more rapidly and at higher temps
cools more rapidlly and at lower temps
windward coasts vs leeward
windward: force of ocean, cool summer, mild winter
leeward: more cont. regime tmep
things that affect albeedo
cllloud cover, sun angle, surface
do clouds have a high or low albedo
high
if there are clouds in the day, what happens?
clear vs overcast days
day temps lowered bc it reduces incoming solar radiation
clear: high temp; overcast:low tmeo
at night, cloud cover causes
absorption of radiaiton emitted by earth, temps odn’t as low as a clear night
what kind of shifting is there on the global distribution map
latitundinal shift caused by seasibal migration oif sun’s veritcals rays
observations of global map
Temperature decreases poleward from tropics
warm waters occur over
cold waters
continents’
continents
isotherms of southern hemisphere vs northern hemisphere
warm current vs cold current on isotherm
southern: straight bc of no land mass
warm: poleward; cold: equatorial
what has more flux: land or wwater
inland
annual temp increases with
latitiude
why does the temp at equatore staty relatively sam
similar length of daylight and angle
what controls temp
land and water, altitude, sea currents
factors affecting wind
pressure gradient force, coriolis, friction
pressure gradient
isobars
preessure edifferences caause greater accelration of wind
same pressure
subtropical high
polarsubrtropic low
tropic of caner and capri
artic and antarctic circle
