Exam 1: Atmosphere Flashcards
What is a spatial scale?
the physical size, length, distance, or area of an object occupied by a process
What is temporal scale?
the window of time used to examine phenomena and processes, or length of time over which they develop or change
What is latitude?
the angular distance as measured from earths center point north or south of the equator
What is longitude?
the angular distance as measured from earths center to a point east or west of the prime meridian
Where does the prime meridian go through
Greenwich, England
What is energy?
the capacity to do work on or to change the state of matter
What is matter?
any material that possesses mass and occupies space
What is a system? What are the parts?
A set of things (matter) that interact through flows of energy
Inputs, outputs, sources of energy, flows of energy
What are the types of energy?
Radiant, chemical, geothermal, kinetic, potential
What is a closed system?
Completely isolated from environmental influences
What is an open system?
flows of energy and matter come into and out of the system from the environment
What is a forcing?
Some sort of push that influences a system
-Typically external
Ex. volcano
What are the two system responses to a forcing?
Positive or negative feedbacks
What is a positive feedback?
It enhances the original change in a system
What is a negative feedback?
Dampens the original change in a system
What is the atmosphere?
the envelope of gases that surrounds the earth
Which two gases make up 99% of the earth atmosphere?
Nitrogen and Oxygen
What is a permanent gas?
their proportions only change a little because sources are constant or because so large, we don’t see a difference
What is a variable (trace) gas?
gases that exist in extremely small quantities and change significantly in their proportions
What is a green house gas? Name them
Gases that absorb and emit heat energy
H20, C02, CH4, 03
What % of the atmosphere is nitrogen?
78.08%
What % of the atmosphere is oxygen?
20.95%
What % of the atmosphere is argon?
0.93%
How do gases get in the atmosphere? And leave?
Gases enter the atmosphere through a source and leave through a sink
What are aerosols?
microscopic solid or liquid particles suspended in the atmosphere
ex. cloud droplets, dust
What is the total weight of the atmosphere?
5 quadrillion metric tons
5 x 10^15
What is air pressure?
the force exerted by molecules of air against a surface
Where is air the densest? Why?
Sea level because the weight of the atmosphere above compresses the air
What are the layers of the atmosphere, going from lowest to highest
Troposphere, tropopause, Stratosphere, Stratopause, Mesosphere, Mesopause, Thermosphere, Thermopause
How are the layers of the atmosphere defined?
Based on temperature trends within each layer
How far does the troposphere extend?
12 km on average
Which layer has the most mass in the atmosphere?
Troposphere
Where is all the weather in the atmosphere?
Troposphere
How far above the surface does the Stratosphere extend?
12-50 km
Which way does air flow in the stratosphere?
horizontallu
Which layer contains the highest concentration of the ozone
Stratosphere
Why is the stratosphere warmer than the troposphere?
the ozone absorbs energy from the sun, and it warms the layer
UV radiation, good for humans
Where is the ozonosphere and what is it and its function?
Stratosphere
Has the most ozone
A blanket that protects our planet from much of the UV radiation from the sun
How did the ozone hole form?
Combination of chlorofluorocarbons in the stratosphere and extreme weather conditions during the Antarctic winter
Where is the Mesosphere?
50-80km
What happens in the mesosphere?
Meteors vaporize
Where is the thermosphere?
80-600 km above surface
Why is there permanent temperature inversion in the thermosphere?
Due to heating of molecules by unshielded solar radiation
In which region of the atmosphere are the molecules free of gravity?
Exosphere, in the thermosphere
Where is the ionosphere?
Upper mesosphere and thermosphere, between 60 and 1,000 km
Why does the ionosphere grow and shrink?
depending on solar activity and the time of the day
What gets absorbed in the ionosphere?
UV, X-ray, and gamma radiation from sun
Which layer contains the northern and southern lights and what causes them?
Ionosphere
Gas molecules energized by charged particles called the solar wind
What sets the average temperature on earth?
Temperature of the sun
Distance between earth and the sun
The effects of earths atmosphere
What is temperature?
The average speed of molecular movement within a substance or an object
What was the highest recorded temperature
56 degrees C
What was the lowest recorded temperature
-89 degrees C
What is heat?
The energy transferred between materials or systems due to their temperature differences
What are some methods of heat transfer?
Conduction
Convection and Advection
Radiation
What is conduction?
the process by which energy is transferred through a substance or between objects in direct contact
Heat flows from high temp to low temp
What is convection?
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
What is advection?
the horizontal movement of some property of the atmosphere, such as heat, humidity, or pollution
What is radiation?
the process by which wave energy travels through the vacuum of space or through a medium
What is radiant energy (electromagnetic radiation)?
energy that is propagated in the form of electromagnetic waves, including visible light and heat
What is Wien’s law of radiation?
objects with higher temperatures emit more photons at shorter wavelengths than objects with lower temperatures
What is Stefan-Boltzmann Law?
Objects with higher temperatures emit photons at higher rates than objects with lower temperatures
What are the suns main 3 energy emissions? Why are they important?
Ultraviolet radiation, Visible light, Infrared
Provide light, heat the planets atmosphere and oceans, and fuel the biosphere
What is the solar constant or total solar irradiance?
~1370 joules of energy reach earth every second for every square meter of earth’s cross sectional area facing the sun
What are the 3 things that can happen to the sun’s energy when it reaches the atmosphere?
Can be reflected, transmitted, or absorbed
What happens to the suns shortwave energy?
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
What happens to the suns longwave energy?
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
What is albedo?
the reflectivity of the earths surface, light colored surfaces have high albedo and dark colors have low albedo
What is the subsolar point?
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
Where is the subsolar point during the September Equinox? When is the equinox?
Equator
September 21-24
Where is the subsolar point during the December solstice? When is the solstice?
Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 S)
December 20-22
Where is the subsolar point during the March Equinox? When is the equinox?
Equator
March 19-21
Where is the subsolar point during the June Solstice? When is the solstice?
Tropic of Cancer (23.5 N)
June 20-22
What is average annual temperature?
A single number representing temperature at the surface for every location on earth
What is seasonality?
how much temperature (and precipitation) change throughout the year
How does elevation effect temperature?
temperature decreases with altitude in the troposphere
Where is day length constant?
the equator
What effect do continents have on temperature patterns?
Inland regions have more seasonality than coastal regions because the ocean modulates temperatures
What are the 4 main factors of water that effect temperature patterns?
specific heat, evaporation, mixing and transparency of water
What is specific heat?
heat required to raise temperature of any object of material by a given amount
How do ocean currents effect seasonality?
heat from the ocean surface is transferred to the atmosphere
Which direction is prevailing wind coming from in the Northern Hemisphere and how does it effect climate?
West
west coasts have maritime climates and east coasts have continental climates
What causes wind?
Wind is an expression of solar energy
Variations in the heating of earths surface create differences of air pressure
Changes in phase of water
What is latent heat?
the energy that is absorbed or released during state change, such as evaporation or condensation
How does latent heat effect how the atmosphere behaves?
it changes the temperature of the air, which changes density, which changes whether the air rises or falls, possibly causing a storm
What instrument measures air pressure? Unit?
Barometer, millibars (mb) or inches of mercury (inHg)
what is the pressure gradient force?
The force resulting from differences in barometric pressure across Earth’s surface
Which way does the coriolis effect deflect the wind in the northern hemisphere?
To the right
Which way does the coriolis effect deflect the wind in the southern hemisphere?
to the left
What are geostrophic winds?
Fast, high altitude winds that are strongly deflected by the Coriolis Effect
Move parallel to isobars
5,000 meters +
What is a cyclone?
a region of low pressure with counter clockwise circulation in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere
What is an example of a cyclone?
Storm systems - hurricanes
What is an anticyclone
A region of high pressure with clockwise rotation in the northern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere
What is a microscale when measuring wind systems?
up to 2 km winds
What is a mesoscale when measuring wind systems?
up to several hundred km
What is a synoptic scale when measuring wind systems?
Several hundred km or larger
What is a sea breeze?
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
What is a land breeze?
A local offshore breeze created by cooling and development of thermal high pressure over land because the land is cooler than the ocean.
