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Physical Geo > Exam 1: Atmosphere > Flashcards

Exam 1: Atmosphere Flashcards

1
Q

What is a spatial scale?

A

the physical size, length, distance, or area of an object occupied by a process

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2
Q

What is temporal scale?

A

the window of time used to examine phenomena and processes, or length of time over which they develop or change

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3
Q

What is latitude?

A

the angular distance as measured from earths center point north or south of the equator

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4
Q

What is longitude?

A

the angular distance as measured from earths center to a point east or west of the prime meridian

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5
Q

Where does the prime meridian go through

A

Greenwich, England

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6
Q

What is energy?

A

the capacity to do work on or to change the state of matter

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7
Q

What is matter?

A

any material that possesses mass and occupies space

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8
Q

What is a system? What are the parts?

A

A set of things (matter) that interact through flows of energy
Inputs, outputs, sources of energy, flows of energy

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9
Q

What are the types of energy?

A

Radiant, chemical, geothermal, kinetic, potential

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10
Q

What is a closed system?

A

Completely isolated from environmental influences

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11
Q

What is an open system?

A

flows of energy and matter come into and out of the system from the environment

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12
Q

What is a forcing?

A

Some sort of push that influences a system
-Typically external
Ex. volcano

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13
Q

What are the two system responses to a forcing?

A

Positive or negative feedbacks

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14
Q

What is a positive feedback?

A

It enhances the original change in a system

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15
Q

What is a negative feedback?

A

Dampens the original change in a system

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16
Q

What is the atmosphere?

A

the envelope of gases that surrounds the earth

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17
Q

Which two gases make up 99% of the earth atmosphere?

A

Nitrogen and Oxygen

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18
Q

What is a permanent gas?

A

their proportions only change a little because sources are constant or because so large, we don’t see a difference

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19
Q

What is a variable (trace) gas?

A

gases that exist in extremely small quantities and change significantly in their proportions

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20
Q

What is a green house gas? Name them

A

Gases that absorb and emit heat energy
H20, C02, CH4, 03

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21
Q

What % of the atmosphere is nitrogen?

A

78.08%

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22
Q

What % of the atmosphere is oxygen?

A

20.95%

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23
Q

What % of the atmosphere is argon?

A

0.93%

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24
Q

How do gases get in the atmosphere? And leave?

A

Gases enter the atmosphere through a source and leave through a sink

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25
Q

What are aerosols?

A

microscopic solid or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere
ex. cloud droplets, dust

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26
Q

What is the total weight of the atmosphere?

A

5 quadrillion metric tons
5 x 10^15

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27
Q

What is air pressure?

A

the force exerted by molecules of air against a surface

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28
Q

Where is air the densest? Why?

A

Sea level because the weight of the atmosphere above compresses the air

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29
Q

What are the layers of the atmosphere, going from lowest to highest

A

Troposphere, tropopause, Stratosphere, Stratopause, Mesosphere, Mesopause, Thermosphere, Thermopause

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30
Q

How are the layers of the atmosphere defined?

A

Based on temperature trends within each layer

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31
Q

How far does the troposphere extend?

A

12 km on average

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32
Q

Which layer has the most mass in the atmosphere?

A

Troposphere

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33
Q

Where is all the weather in the atmosphere?

A

Troposphere

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34
Q

How far above the surface does the Stratosphere extend?

A

12-50 km

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35
Q

Which way does air flow in the stratosphere?

A

horizontallu

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36
Q

Which layer contains the highest concentration of the ozone

A

Stratosphere

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37
Q

Why is the stratosphere warmer than the troposphere?

A

the ozone absorbs energy from the sun, and it warms the layer
UV radiation, good for humans

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38
Q

Where is the ozonosphere and what is it and its function?

A

Stratosphere
Has the most ozone
A blanket that protects our planet from much of the UV radiation from the sun

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39
Q

How did the ozone hole form?

A

Combination of chlorofluorocarbons in the stratosphere and extreme weather conditions during the Antarctic winter

40
Q

Where is the Mesosphere?

A

50-80km

41
Q

What happens in the mesosphere?

A

Meteors vaporize

42
Q

Where is the thermosphere?

A

80-600 km above surface

43
Q

Why is there permanent temperature inversion in the thermosphere?

A

Due to heating of molecules by unshielded solar radiation

44
Q

In which region of the atmosphere are the molecules free of gravity?

A

Exosphere, in the thermosphere

45
Q

Where is the ionosphere?

A

Upper mesosphere and thermosphere, between 60 and 1,000 km

46
Q

Why does the ionosphere grow and shrink?

A

depending on solar activity and the time of the day

47
Q

What gets absorbed in the ionosphere?

A

UV, X-ray, and gamma radiation from sun

48
Q

Which layer contains the northern and southern lights and what causes them?

A

Ionosphere
Gas molecules energized by charged particles called the solar wind

49
Q

What sets the average temperature on earth?

A

Temperature of the sun
Distance between earth and the sun
The effects of earths atmosphere

50
Q

What is temperature?

A

The average speed of molecular movement within a substance or an object

51
Q

What was the highest recorded temperature

A

56 degrees C

52
Q

What was the lowest recorded temperature

A

-89 degrees C

53
Q

What is heat?

A

The energy transferred between materials or systems due to their temperature differences

54
Q

What are some methods of heat transfer?

A

Conduction
Convection and Advection
Radiation

55
Q

What is conduction?

A

the process by which energy is transferred through a substance or between objects in direct contact
Heat flows from high temp to low temp

56
Q

What is convection?

A

The transfer of heat through movement of mass within a fluid (liquid or gas)
Happens when there is uneven heating and an imbalance in densities

57
Q

What is advection?

A

the horizontal movement of some property of the atmosphere, such as heat, humidity, or pollution

58
Q

What is radiation?

A

the process by which wave energy travels through the vacuum of space or through a medium

59
Q

What is radiant energy (electromagnetic radiation)?

A

energy that is propagated in the form of electromagnetic waves, including visible light and heat

60
Q

What is Wien’s law of radiation?

A

objects with higher temperatures emit more photons at shorter wavelengths than objects with lower temperatures

61
Q

What is Stefan-Boltzmann Law?

A

Objects with higher temperatures emit photons at higher rates than objects with lower temperatures

62
Q

What are the suns main 3 energy emissions? Why are they important?

A

Ultraviolet radiation, Visible light, Infrared
Provide light, heat the planets atmosphere and oceans, and fuel the biosphere

63
Q

What is the solar constant or total solar irradiance?

A

~1370 joules of energy reach earth every second for every square meter of earth’s cross sectional area facing the sun

64
Q

What are the 3 things that can happen to the sun’s energy when it reaches the atmosphere?

A

Can be reflected, transmitted, or absorbed

65
Q

What happens to the suns shortwave energy?

A

UV gets absorbed by ozone
Most is transmitted if not reflected, atmospheric gases are not good at absorbing short wave energy
If it makes it to the surface, it can be reflected or it gets reabsorbed and re-emitted, turning it into long wave energy

66
Q

What happens to the suns longwave energy?

A

Gets absorbed in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases. Gets reradiated in all directions. The energy spends more time in the atmosphere than normal before it escapes to space

67
Q

What is albedo?

A

the reflectivity of the earths surface, light colored surfaces have high albedo and dark colors have low albedo

68
Q

What is the subsolar point?

A

point where the sun’s rays are most direct
Changes throughout the day and year as the earth rotates on its axis and orbits on its plane

69
Q

Where is the subsolar point during the September Equinox? When is the equinox?

A

Equator
September 21-24

70
Q

Where is the subsolar point during the December solstice? When is the solstice?

A

Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 S)
December 20-22

71
Q

Where is the subsolar point during the March Equinox? When is the equinox?

A

Equator
March 19-21

72
Q

Where is the subsolar point during the June Solstice? When is the solstice?

A

Tropic of Cancer (23.5 N)
June 20-22

73
Q

What is average annual temperature?

A

A single number representing temperature at the surface for every location on earth

74
Q

What is seasonality?

A

how much temperature (and precipitation) change throughout the year

75
Q

How does elevation effect temperature?

A

temperature decreases with altitude in the troposphere

76
Q

Where is day length constant?

A

the equator

77
Q

What effect do continents have on temperature patterns?

A

Inland regions have more seasonality than coastal regions because the ocean modulates temperatures

78
Q

What are the 4 main factors of water that effect temperature patterns?

A

specific heat, evaporation, mixing and transparency of water

79
Q

What is specific heat?

A

heat required to raise temperature of any object of material by a given amount

80
Q

How do ocean currents effect seasonality?

A

heat from the ocean surface is transferred to the atmosphere

81
Q

Which direction is prevailing wind coming from in the Northern Hemisphere and how does it effect climate?

A

West
west coasts have maritime climates and east coasts have continental climates

82
Q

What causes wind?

A

Wind is an expression of solar energy
Variations in the heating of earths surface create differences of air pressure
Changes in phase of water

83
Q

What is latent heat?

A

the energy that is absorbed or released during state change, such as evaporation or condensation

84
Q

How does latent heat effect how the atmosphere behaves?

A

it changes the temperature of the air, which changes density, which changes whether the air rises or falls, possibly causing a storm

85
Q

What instrument measures air pressure? Unit?

A

Barometer, millibars (mb) or inches of mercury (inHg)

86
Q

what is the pressure gradient force?

A

The force resulting from differences in barometric pressure across Earth’s surface

87
Q

Which way does the coriolis effect deflect the wind in the northern hemisphere?

A

To the right

88
Q

Which way does the coriolis effect deflect the wind in the southern hemisphere?

A

to the left

89
Q

What are geostrophic winds?

A

Fast, high altitude winds that are strongly deflected by the Coriolis Effect
Move parallel to isobars
5,000 meters +

90
Q

What is a cyclone?

A

a region of low pressure with counter clockwise circulation in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere

91
Q

What is an example of a cyclone?

A

Storm systems - hurricanes

92
Q

What is an anticyclone

A

A region of high pressure with clockwise rotation in the northern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere

93
Q

What is a microscale when measuring wind systems?

A

up to 2 km winds

94
Q

What is a mesoscale when measuring wind systems?

A

up to several hundred km

95
Q

What is a synoptic scale when measuring wind systems?

A

Several hundred km or larger

96
Q

What is a sea breeze?

A

a local onshore breeze created by heating and development of thermal low pressure over land because the land becomes warmer than the ocean. This draws air inland. Air flowing from sea to land

97
Q

What is a land breeze?

A

A local offshore breeze created by cooling and development of thermal high pressure over land because the land is cooler than the ocean.

Physical Geo (1 decks)

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