Chapter 3 Flashcards
water vapor is the source of all
condensation and precipitation
essentially water on earth is considered
conserved from the water cycle
changing states requires a what
energy transfer in the form of heat
latent heat that must be
added or removed for a phase change
phase change requires
addition of heat
phase changed could be
melting, evaporation, and sublimation
phase changes requires the removal of heat
freezing, condensation, and deposition
saturation
the max quantity of water vapor air van hold at a given temp and pressure
warm air can hold more water vapor than
cold air
what is relative humidity
ratio of the air’s actual amount of water content compared with the amount of water air can hold at that temperature and pressure
2 ways relative humidity can be changed
add or remove water
change temperature
when the air is saturated and further cooling begins what happens
condensation (ex. dew, clouds)
what is dew point
the temperature to which air would have to be cooled for saturation to occur
for every 10C increase in temp the water vapor saturation does what?
doubles
high dew point indicates
moist air
low dew point indicates
dry air
when air temp and dew point are close
the RH is high
when air temp and dew point are far apart
the Rh is low
what is air pressure
the pressure exerted by weigh of air above
air pressure is exerted in what direction
in all directions equally
what is air pressure measured by
a barometer
increase an air temp does the barometer increase or decrease in reading
increases
what type of weather is it when the air pressure increases
sunny weather
decrease in air pressure the barometer does what
decreases
when air pressure decrease what type of weather is there
cloudy
what creates a pressure difference
un-equal heating of the earth
air flows how
flows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure
air flowing from high pressure areas to low pressure areas creates what
creates wind
what is used to show differences in pressure on a map
isobars
spacing on the lines indicate the amounts of pressure what is this pressure called
pressure gradients
the greater the pressure gradients what happens
the greater wind speeds
closely spaced lines show a what type of pressure gradients
show high winds
large change in pressure over a small distance on the earths surface show
high wind speeds
rotation of the earth
24 hours a day
the earths rotation around the sun is
365 days
the tilt of the earths axis
23.5
why do the north and south hemispheres receive different amounts of daylight
the earth is tilted
the north and south hemisphere receive different hours of daylight
DURATIONS
the north and the south recieve different direct sun rays which is called
INTENSITIES
when we are tilted more towards the sun we receive less or more hours of sunlight
when we are tilted toward the sun we receive more hours of sunlight
when we are tilted away from we receive what type of daylight
we receive less hours of sunlight and less intense sun rays ( considered to be Winter)
when it is summer on the northern hemisphere it is what in the southern hemisphere
it is winter in the southern hemisphere
what is solstice
twice a year we receive the most hours of daylight or fewest hours of daylight
when is summer soloist
June 22 ( Longest day )
when is winter soliste
December 22 ( shortest day )
what is an equinox
twice a year we have equal amounts of daylight and darkness
when are the two days of equinox
Spring- March 21
vernal (fall) equinox - September 31
what is summer like in the Northern Hemisphere
they receive more direct sunlight and longer daylight
what is winter like in the northern hemisphere
less direct sunlight and shorter daylight
what is the corilous effect
the movement of particles ( such as air ) to the right in the northern hemisphere and in the southern hemisphere to the left
what are global winds caused by
uneven heating of the earths surface
what does the atmosphere do to balance these differences
acts like a giant heart transfer system using convection
polar easterlies
90-60 east latitude
prevsiling westerlies
latitude from the west
trade winds
30-0 latitude from the east
what doe jet streams do
form at latitudes where wind systems come together
high winds speed form
westernly and form high above the surface
