chapter 1 self notes Flashcards
Water vapor into liquid water is called
Condensation
Liquid water into water vapor is called
Evaporation
The falling of rain or snow
Precipitation
What is greenhouse effect ?
Trapping of heat energy close to Earth’s surface.
What is latent heat?
When water vapor changes to a liquid or ice. This heat release is an important source of energy for storm development.
Is water vapor a greenhouse gas?
Yes, because it strongly absorbs a portion of Earth’s outgoing radiant energy.
What is Carbon Dioxide?
A natural component of the atmosphere, occupies a small (but important) percent of a volume of air, about .04 percent.
What is the Ozone(O3)?
97% of O3 is found in the upper atmosphere
O3 in upper atmosphere blocks harmful ultraviolet radiation (UV)
O3 at the surface is the primary ingredient of photochemical smog
What are aerosols?
Tiny solid or liquid particles of various composition, suspended in the air.
What is weight?
the force acting on an object due to gravity.
Weight= Mass X Gravity
How is density of air determined?
It is determined by the masses of atoms and molecules and the amount of space between them.
Density = Mass/Volume
What holds the Earth’s atmosphere close to the surface?
Gravity
True or False
Air density is greatest at the Earth’s surface than at higher levels.
True
Does air density decrease as we move up into the atmosphere?
Yes, because air near the surface is compressed, air density normally decreases rapidly at first , then more slowly as we move farther away from the surface.
What is pressure?
Pressure = Force/Area
What is the normal Atmospheric Pressure near sea level?
14.7 Lbs.
What is air pressure?
The amount of weight exerted over an area of surface
What is the Troposphere?
Surface to ≈ 11 km (7 mi) (36,000 ft) ave.
Contains a vast majority of the weather
Decrease in temperature with height
Tropopause?
Boundary separating troposphere from stratosphere
Average height around 11 km (36,000 ft)
Marked by the bottom of an isothermal (equal temperature) layer
Breaks in Tropopause indicate the position of jet stream
Stratosphere?
Temperature increases in height above the lower isothermal layer (Temperature inversion)
The inversion tends to reduce the amount of vertical motion, hence the stratosphere is a stratified layer
Although temps are increasing with height, air temps are still cold; at 30 km (18.5 mi) less than -45˚C (-49˚F)
The temperature inversion within this layer results from the presence of ozone that absorbs UV radiation from the sun
Stratopause
Separates the Stratosphere from Mesosphere
Air at this level is extremely thin
99.9% of atmosphere by mass is below this level
Located at ≈ 50 km (31 mi)
Mesosphere
Located at ≈ 50 to 85 km (31 to 53 mi)
% N2 and O2 is same as sea level but air is extremely thin
Air temp decreases with height because very little ozone within this layer
Temps at 85 km (53 mi) average around -90˚C
(-130˚F); lowest atmospheric temperatures reached
Mesopause
Located at ≈ 85 km (53 mi)
Separates the Mesosphere from the Thermosphere
Thermosphere
Called the ‘hot layer’
O2 molecules absorb energetic solar rays
The small number of molecules allows a small absorption of energy to cause a large increase in temperature
Molecules can travel over 1 km before colliding with another molecule, compared to 1/millionth of a centimeter on surface
Exosphere
Top of the atmosphere, 500 km (300 mi)
Molecules can move 10 km (6 mi) before colliding with another
Lighter faster moving molecules traveling in the right direction can escape the earth’s gravitational pull
Latitude
North and South
Longitude
West/ East
