Ch 7-10: Moisture-Weather-Climate Flashcards
Understanding the relationship between moisture, weather, and climate systems.
What pressure systems are characterized by converging, ascending air and spirals in a counterclockwise direction in the nothern hemisphere?
lower pressure cells
What are the types of precipitation?
rain, snow, sleet, hail
What type of vegetation is associated with a Mediterranean climate?
chaparral
What side of a mountain range normally receives the least amount of precipitation?
leeward
What is the outward movement of water from plant leaves?
transpiration
Name the 6 basic climate categories.
Tropical, Mesothermal, Microthermal, Polar, Highland, Desert (Dry)
Does temperature variation increase or decrease as one moves further from the equator?
increase
What is the short-term condition of the atmosphere called?
weather
Is the annual temperature range of places in the interior of a continent greater than or less than places along the coast?
greater than
What kind of fog develops when warm, moist air flows over a cold current?
advection
Water in the hydrological cycle can be found below the surface, on the surface, and in the ______________.
atmosphere
What term refers to the tendency of an air parcel to either remain in place or change its initial position?
stability
What type of cloud is puffy and/or globular in shape?
cumuliform (cumulus)
What type of cloud is flat or layered?
stratiform (stratus)
How much of the Earth’s total amount of water is found in the oceans?
97%
What type of atmospheric lifting mechanism produces most of the precipitation in a tropical rain forest climate?
convectional
What develops overhead in a Mediterranean dry-summer climate that produces the dry conditions in the summer?
subtropical high
What calculation is used to determine Actual Evapotranspiration (ACTET)?
POTET - DEFICIT
What climate designation applies to Moscow, Russia?
Humid continental, mild summer
How much in relative humidity do the bottom of clouds indicate in pecentage terms?
100%
What term is used to refer to the temperature at which 100% humidity occurs?
dew point
What term regarding temperature is used to refer to the elevation at which clouds form?
dew point
Thunderstorms normally develop along frontal boundaries, areas of surface convergence, and areas of ____________ uplift.
orographic
“Hot and wet” temperature and precipitation patterns are characteristic of ________________ in the equatorial tropics.
rain forests
Hurricanes die over land because ________ and the subsequent condensation aren’t sufficient to sustain them.
evaporation
What term is used to refers to wetter, intercepting slope of a mountain?
windward
What term refers to the amount of water that would evaporate and transpire if it were available?
Potential evapotranspiration
When water evaporates, it ___________ heat energy.
absorbs
When water evaporates, does it heat or cool the surrounding air?
cool
Which hemisphere is dominated by water?
southern
Which hemisphere contains most of the land?
northern
What is the heat energy involved in the change of state, or phase, of water?
latent heat
What gas is thought to be responsible for much of the anthropogenic warming of the atmosphere?
carbon dioxide
The dry season of the tropical monsoon climate occurs when the _____________ is not overhead?
ITCZ
Marine west-coast climates are characterized by unstable air masses, unpredictable weater, and are dominated by __________ air masses.
mP
The Intertropical Convergence Zone is characterized by ________ and _______ rising air.
warm, wet
In what direction do storm tracks shift in the winter for the United State and Canada?
south
In what direction do storm tracks shift in the summer for the United State and Canada?
north
Does a mT air mass form over an ocean or a continent?
ocean
Which air mass is more humid: cT or mP?
mP
Tornadoes result from the interaction of a moist mT air mass and a dry ________ air mass.
cP
What term in the soil-water-budget concept refers to a condition when precipitation and soil moisture are inadequate to meet potential evapotranspiration demands?
deficit
Where do low-latitiude hot desert climates occur?
tropics and subtropics
What type of cloud have vertical development and produce thunderstorms?
cumulonimbus
Is the interaction of air masses a factor in a genetic or empirical classification system?
genetic
What term is used to refer to a water-bearing rock stratum?
aquifer
What climate classficiation applies to Bluefield, West Virginia?
marine west coast
When air rises over the windward side of a mountain, it will move into a region of ________ air pressure and therefore will be cooled by _______________.
lower, expansion
What climate type experiences a wet summer and dry winter, and is dominated by the ITCZ for 6 months or less during the year?
tropical savanna
What is water vapor in the atmosphere called?
humidity
Overland flow is an example what term in the water-soil-budget concept?
surplus
What climate type is characterized by potential evapotranspiration exceeding precipitation in all parts: Mediterranean, tropical savanna, or semiarid steppe?
semiarid steppe
A mass of air becomes becomes saturated when it reaches the __________ temperature.
dew point
An air mass reflects its source region, may dominate half the depth of the tropposphere, and are ______________ in terms of temperature and humidity.
homogenous
In what Polar climate type do spruce, larch, and fir trees survive?
tundra
What type of fog is formed when a cooling surface chills the air directly above?
radiation
What term refers to the forced uplift of an air parcel over a physical barrier?
orographic
What term refers to the water vapor in the air at a given temperature expressed as a percentage of the water vapor capacity of the air?
relative humidity
A climactic region is defined by characteristic, long-term ______________ patterns.
weather
What term refers to the soil moisture that is unvailable for use by plants?
hygroscopic
Hurricanes derive their energy from the latent heat of ______________.
condensation
What term refers to the dry, leeward side of mountain ranges?
rain shadow
The wetter, intercepting slope of a mountain is termed the ___________ slope, whereas the drier and downward slope is termed the ___________ slope.
windward, leeward
