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atmosphere Flashcards

1
Q

5 atmosphere layers

A

tropo, strato, meso, thermo, exo

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2
Q

troposphere

A

7-20km above sea level, height depends on lat, season and time of day. all life, weather, 90% all air, temp gradient decrease with altitude til tropopause reached, air pressure and density decreases with altitude, most water droplets=clouds, heated from earth’s surface that radiates longwave ir into troposphere.

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3
Q

why is troposphere highest alt at equator

A

thermal expansion at the equator and thermal contraction at the poles. equator is warmer making air thicker, convection currents of air expand the thickness of the troposphere at the poles.

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4
Q

thermal expansion

A

when an object expands due to change in temperature. molecules move faster and take up more space.

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5
Q

thermal contraction

A

objects decreasing in size due to changes in temp.

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6
Q

what is the atmosphere

A

the layer of gas that surrounds the planet held in place by the planet’s gravity

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7
Q

stratosphere

A

2nd layer, altitude of 50km, stable and very dry, air is thinning, ozone layer, temp increase with altitude, nascreous clouds occuring in the lower stratosphere

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8
Q

ozone layer

A

region within stratosphere, high concentration of ozone that is created when high energy UV strikes a normal o2 molecule. extends 15-35km above sea level, absorbs harmful rays UV from the sun before it reached the ground, o3 molecules absorb uv and reradiate the energy as heat warming the stratosphere. ozone hole caused by chemicals released by humans

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9
Q

mesophere

A

50km-90km above sea level, temp decrease with altitude, solar energy isnt absorbed as air is thin, meteors burn here, air from troposphere can reach carrying energy. noctilucent clouds form over the poles, the highest clouds. coldest part of earth’s atmos at the top

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10
Q

thermosphere

A

90km alt up, temp rises sharply in lower thermosphere due to solar heating, steadily continues to increase with alt, auroras occur, hottest layer direct contact with solar energy and radiation

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11
Q

exosphere

A

thin layer where the atmosphere merges into space

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12
Q

ionosphere

A

in thermosphere, magnetic field, less than0.1% mass of earth atmos, upper atmosphere ionized by solrat, solar energy so strong it breaks apart molecules, so electrones float around with molecules which have lost or gained electrons. make long distance radio communication possible. auroras occur here due to collision of solar wind

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13
Q

the pauses

A

transition boundaries between the layers due to temp contrasts

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14
Q

aerosols / particulates

A

minute solid and liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere. larger particles scatter and absorb sunlight

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15
Q

desert dust

A

minute grains of minerals from deserts blown to high altitudes by instense dust storms, absorb and scatter sunlight

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16
Q

volcanic aerosols (large scale eruptions

A

blasts gases and particles ike ash and sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere with long term affects on the climate (years to centuries). long term warming due to enhance greenhouse effect. high winds in stratosphere spread ash and aerosols all around the globe, only removed when catch into circulation cell go back to troposphere and get rained out

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17
Q

volcanic aerosols (small scale eruptions)

A

blast ash plumes into troposphere where they may lower visibility, affect day and night temps, a cooling effect on short term earth climate, rained out within a coupel of weeks.

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18
Q

clouds

A

mainly air with a whole lot of very tiny droplets of water suspended in the air. regulates planet temp, cooling earth as they reflect suns shortwave solar energy. others warm due to trapping longwave heat energy emited by earth surface (so2 etc). precipitations occurs when several drops combin and fall due to gravity

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19
Q

cloud formation

A

water vapour (gas) in the air evaporated from oceans, lakes rivers, wet grounds and transpiration + aerosols + air rising and cooling. the water vapour and aerosols bump into e/o, warm air contains more water vapour, when air cools water vapour sticks to aerosols when they collide and condense to liquid water. the water droplets stick together with other droplets forming clouds.

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20
Q

cloud condensation nuclei (dew point)

A

the temperature at which a parcel of air must be cooled to reach saturation (constant humidity and pressure). the amount of water vapour air can hold varies with temp, warmer air a greater ability. if air cools it cant hold moisture any logner forcing water vapour to condense into clouds, mist or fog etc. relative to humidity. water is only seen when condenses (as gas)

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21
Q

step by step cloud formation

A

form when air forced over a barrier such as a mountain where air cools and it often rains. solar energy heats the ground short wave rad, conduction with the air above warming the air, the warm air rises due to pressure gradients, convection between the air, the rising air cools and condenses, the dew point is reached and clouds form

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22
Q

air masses rising

A

clouds from when air at the surface is forced to rise, air moves from high to low pressure and when this air meets in the center, there is no where else to go but up, wind moves to center from all directions.

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23
Q

cold front cloud formation

A

cold front develops warm air ahead of the front, pushes up over the top of the cold air. warm air is lighter than cold air, warm air rises, cools and moisture in the air condenses. thunderstorms occur

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24
Q

warm front cloud formation

A

warm air mass slides over cold air mass pushing warm air upwards forming clouds. low stratus clouds occur

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25
Q

energy from the sun

A

radiation, conduction, convection.

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26
Q

infrared heat

A

energy from the sun we cant see, long wavelength, absorbed and reradiated from the ground to the atmosphre

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27
Q

ultraviolet

A

energy from the sun we cant see, very shortwave

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28
Q

visible light

A

energy from the sun with short wavelength that is absorbed by all objects on earth’s surface

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29
Q

incoming energy

A

shortwave radiation, small amount of sol rat reflected by surface, more reflected by clouds

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30
Q

outgoing energy

A

outgoing longwave radiation, reflected back to surface by clouds or move through clouds to go back to space

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31
Q

greenhouse gases

A

trap heat in the atmosphere and radiate it back to earth’s surface warming earth. excess ghgs causing enhanced greenhouse effect

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32
Q

uneven heating on earth

A

earth tilted on axis at 23.5degrees, rotates every 24 hours. sun shines more directly on equator than poles, more solar energy absorbed at equator then poles resulting in more heat IR at tropics causing convection currents

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33
Q

sensible heat

A

the amount of heat/energy required to change the temperature of the substance without changing the phase of the substsance. heat causing change in temperature

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34
Q

latent heat

A

energy absorbed or released by a substance during a change in its physical state occuring without changing its temperature (other than the temperature of the outside environment)

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35
Q

latent heat absorbed

A

energy taken from the environment when a solid melts into liquid or liquid evaporates into gas

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36
Q

latent heat released

A

energy released into the environment when gas condensates into liquid and when liquid freezes into solid

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37
Q

albedo

A

light coloured surfaces reflecting the light that hits them (high albedo), or dark coloured surfaces absorb most of the light (low albedo)

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38
Q

earth’s thermostat

A

ocean atmosphere land and life work together to recycle everything except energy. maintaing a stable climate

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39
Q

transport of matter (water)

A

moved around by convection cells and water, water cycle also moves water, moves between earth surface and atmosphere

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40
Q

transport of matter (gas)

A

transported by temperature and pressure differences in the air, causing winds

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41
Q

transport of matter (aerosols)

A

carried into atmosphere by winds and transported for 1000s of kms. when aerosols enter stratosphere they stay there for years

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42
Q

warm air

A

low pressure as it expands, less dense and rises. as it rises it cools and cannot hold as much water leading to clouds and precipitation. areas with warm air rising are wet

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43
Q

convection cells

A

transfer heat, contain major wind at the bottom of each cell

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44
Q

hadley cells

A

low pressure at the equator high pressure at 30degree N and S. tropics air is warm and moist and it rises and cools, cannot sink back cause of rising air beneath. the rising air reaches the trop of the troposphere and then moves north or south and sinks at 30 degrees. the returning air causes trade winds that blow towards the west due to coriolis

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45
Q

trade wind

A

the winds formed by the returning air at the bottom of the hadley cell. north east trade winds and south east trade winds

46
Q

ITCZ

A

inter tropical convergence zone, the doldrums. it moves with seasons further south in SH summer and north is SH winter

47
Q

polar cell

A

high pressure at 90degrees low pressure at 60degrees. at the poles, cold and very dense air sinks moving towards the equator. around 60degrees air is less dense meeting warm air from the equator. some air heats up and rises forming a polar cell

48
Q

polar easterly winds

A

formed by the dense air moving towards the equator, blowing towards the west cause of the coriolis effect

49
Q

ferrel cell

A

high pressure at 30degrees, low pressure at 60degrees. air that sinks at 30 moves to the low pressure region of 60. at 60, warm winds from the equator meet the cooler polar winds forming warm air that rises as it is less dense resulting in low pressure, forming the less well formed cell.

50
Q

moist mid latitude westerly winds

A

ferrel cell, coriolis effect forms them to blow NW or SW from 30 to 60 degrees

51
Q

jet stream

A

relatively narrow belts of high speed winds that blow in the upper troposphere, forming at the boundaries of adjacent air masses with significant different in temperature.

52
Q

coriolis effect

A

the effect of the earth’s spin, earth rotates about the exis towards the east once every 24 hours, objects on the surface rotate as well (ocean atmosphere). the speed of movement is the highest at equator decreases gradually north and south till it gets to zero at poles. the coriolis effect is greatest near the poles decreases towards equator. deflection of wind greatest at poles. latitudes increasing and speed of earth rotation decreasing affecting coriolis

53
Q

wind

A

caused by difference in atmospheric pressure moving from high to low pressure, the greater the difference in pressure the stronger the winds

54
Q

pressure zone

A

marks boundaries of wind belts. zones and belts move north during southern winter and south during southern summer

55
Q

main pressure zones

A

polar high, polar front, subtropical high, equatorial low (itcz)

56
Q

tropics and itcz

A

global climate zone, responses to low or high pressure regions. sun shines directly down so high temp, low air pressure, high evaporation and rainfall. no wind due to warm rising air creating low pressure, warm and wet (doldrum)

57
Q

subtropical high pressure belts (horse lats)

A

global climate zone, two zones at latitude 30n and s. warm humid air from itcz comes back down to earth and cold dense and dry. high pressure zones with descending air and low rainfall, hot deserts here

58
Q

subpolar low pressure belts

A

global climate zone. two zones at latitude 60 n and s. low air density, low pressure, ascending air and high rainfall. wet area

59
Q

the poles

A

global climate zone. 90 n and s. very dry cold air at high pressure. descending air. dry region

60
Q

sea breezes

A

land warms more repidly than water during the day as water has a higher heat capacity. air above the land warms through conduction, becoming less dense and rises drawing cooler air landward from the sea. the pressure gradient between the sea and land causes winds to bloe from the sea onto the land

61
Q

land breeze

A

at night, cool heavy air from the land flows to the sea because now the air on top of the sea is warmer than the land as land loses heat faster than water does. pressure gradient weaker than during the day so wind isnt as strong.

62
Q

radiation

A

energy moving from one place to another in a form of waves or particles

63
Q

conduction

A

heat moving from one object to another through direct touch, collision of neighbouring atoms and molecules

64
Q

convection

A

movement of particles through a substance transporting heat energy from hotter areas to cooler areas. through air and liquid currents

65
Q

the water cycle

A

water needs to be replenished, purified and circulated again to perform functions after being used. recycles water. moving water through the three faces over the 4 spheres (atmo, geo, hydro, bio). regulates temp, changes weather, creates rain, converts rock to soil, circulates minerals, creates geographical features

66
Q

evaporation

A

water changes from liquid to gas by evaporation, water vapour enters atmosphere. energy is required. due to latent heat energy is taken from atmosphere to evaporate liquid water cooling surrounding air

67
Q

transpiration

A

evaporation of water through plant membrane

68
Q

condensation

A

substance changes from water vapour to liquid water, heat returned to atmosphere, latent heat released.

69
Q

dew point temperature

A

air becomes saturated when the air containing water vapour rises into atmosphere, expands and cools. cool air cannot hold as much water vapour as warm air so water vapour condenses into liquid water. varies from day, lcoation, temp of water and air. causes clouds, rain, snow and other precipitation. when cocurs near ground causes few fog frost

70
Q

precipitation

A

water that falls from the atmosphere to the surface. condensed water droplets (clouds) eventually grow large enough where they cannot stay suspended in the atmosphere so they fall

71
Q

runoff and groundwater

A

precipitation falls to the surface either to be absorbed into ground and flow into streams where they converge into rivers and flow back to the ocean

72
Q

water is stored in:

A

lakes, ocean, rivers, underground, amosphere, soil

73
Q

water transported by

A

convection currents, wind, ocean currents, evaporation and precipitation, living organisms, subduction

74
Q

subduction

A

process when two tectonic plates meet at convergent boundaries and one moves under the other due to gravity and differences in density

75
Q

solid water

A

water molecules packed together, ice doesnt change shape

76
Q

liquid water

A

water molecules dont cling together very tightly and molecules move around each other

77
Q

gas water vapour

A

water molecules move very rapidly and are not bound to each other.

78
Q

water chemistry

A

h and o atoms joined by covalent bond (strong bond where electrons are shared). electrons not shared equally so h has a weaker positive charge and o has a weaker negative charge making water polar. cohesion is when the molecules cling together due to the attraction pos to neg neg to pos forming hydrogen bonds

79
Q

ice density

A

ice less dense than liquid water and floats on top. hydrogen bonds hold water molecules apart in ice. ice insulates water

80
Q

capillary action

A

cohesion of water causing water to move upwards in small biological or physical spaces like how water gets from root to leaves

81
Q

surface tension

A

cohesion of water also causes surface tension, invisible skin, some insects can walk on water cause of this

82
Q

water’s specific heat capacity

A

the amount of heat needed to raise waters temperature a certain amount. a high specific heat, absorbs lots of heat before getting hot and holding that heat longer.

83
Q

solar energy

A

sun ehats the earths surface unevenly, determining the earth’s climate

84
Q

earth tilt

A

different parts receive different amounts of solar energy at different times, determining earths climate

85
Q

wind formation

A

due to convection cells and local conditions determine the earths climate

86
Q

pressure differences

A

that cause winds determine the earths climate

87
Q

coriolis effect

A

winds and ocean currents deflected clockwise in nh and anticlockwise in sh that determine earths climate

88
Q

weather

A

a mixture of events on any day. the short term atmospheric conditions over a short period of time. varies from place to place

89
Q

climate

A

is what you expect, the average conditions found in the atmosphere over a longer period of time

90
Q

isobar

A

on weather maps show what is happening at a set time on the earth’s surface, joining together places with the same air pressure. wind blows directly along isobars, the general wind flow

91
Q

localized variations

A

chains of mountains that distort isobars crossing them

92
Q

highs / anticyclone

A

when isobards enclose an area of high pressure called a high or anticyclone

93
Q

lows / depression

A

when isobars enclose area of low pressure

94
Q

front

A

marks a boundary between two air masses

95
Q

cold front

A

forms when cold air pushes under warmer air ahead of it, forcing warm air upwards making clouds and areas of rain. as a cold front passes by rain clears but air temp drops and wind changes direction

96
Q

warm front

A

rises over cooler air often bringing prolonged steady rain. as a warm front passes rain becomes patchy, air temp may rise and wind changes direction

97
Q

orographic rainfall and rain shadow effect

A

process causing higher volumes of rainfall on one side of a mountain range than the other. air forced up very quickly over a short distance, clouds form and heavy rain or snow falls

98
Q

katabatic winds / mountain breeze

A

mountain cools down, air becomes heavier so it descends from mountain to valley

99
Q

anabatic winds / valley winds

A

sun warms mountain, air is lighter and ascends. rising from valley to moutain

100
Q

cloud saturation

A

where the parcel of air is unable to hold all the water it contains in water form, so it stats to condense into liquid or solid, water vapour condenses on pieces of dust, pollen and other condensation nuclei

101
Q

condensation nuclei

A

particles which water vapour condenses onto to form clouds

102
Q

low clouds

A

scatter more solar radiation than they absorb infrared radiation, a cooling effect due to the high albedo reflecting sunlight from earth surface

103
Q

high clouds

A

are thing, transparent to sunlight, reflect less solar radiation and trap outgoing longwave infrared radation (heat) rerediated from the earth’s surface, warming the earth

104
Q

outgoing longwave radiation

A

electromagnetic thermal radiation emitted by earth’s surface, atmosphere and clouds. 10% of this radiation passes through atmospherer into space, rest is absorbed by (high) clouds and ghgs

105
Q

incoming shortwave radiation

A

radiant energy produced by the sun with wavelengths ranging from infrared through visible to ultraviolet. the hotter the object the shorter the wavelength which is why radiation from the sun is shortwave and radiation from earth is longwave as earth is cooler. penetrates the surface of the plant and absorbed, some reflected by clouds, some absorbed by atmos in ozone layer (UV rays)

106
Q

ghgs

A

absorb longwave radiation not incoming shortwave because they interact with light at different wavelengths. they absorb infrared longwavelength (absorbed from earth’s surface) and reradiate the radiation back to warm the earth

107
Q

cfcs

A

ozone destroying chemicals, causing ozone hole

108
Q

the main wind belts

A

polar eastieries of the polar cells, westerlies of the ferrel cells, trade winds of the hadley cells

109
Q

the 4 high and low pressure regions

A

polar high at the poles, polar front at 60 degrees, subtropical high at 30, equatorial low (itcz) at 0.

110
Q

4 global climatic zones

A

tropics, itcz /doldrums, subtropical high pressure belts (horse lats), the poles

111
Q

air pressure

A

atmospheric pressure is the mass of air or the force exerted by air on a certain area. the higher you get the lower air pressure cause fewer molecules. rising air causes low pressure sinking air high pressure

ess (9 decks)

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