Exam 1 Review Sheet and quizzes Flashcards
The gas that shows the most variation in concentration from place to place and from time to time in the lower atmosphere
Water vapor
The most abundant gas that is emitted from volcanoes
Water vapor
Which of the following weather elements always decreases as we climb upward in the atmosphere:
Wind, temperature, pressure, moisture, or all of the above?
Pressure
In the stratosphere, the air temperature normally
Increases with increasing height
The flat top of a thunderstorm about 30,000 or 10 km height would mark the top of the:
Troposphere
The earth’s atmosphere is divided into layers based on changes in the vertical profile of
Air temperature
Ideal conditions for a strong radiation inversion are a
Clear, calm, dry winter night
Assuming that the night will remain clear, calm, and unsaturated, the predicted minimum temperature is 32 degrees F. Suddenly the wind speed increases and remains gusty throughout the night. The minimum temperature will most likely be:
Higher than predicted due to mixing
The primary cause of a radiation inversion is
Infrared radiation emitted by the earth’s surface
An important reason for the large daily temperature range over deserts is
There is little water vapor in the air to absorb and re-radiate infrared radiation.
Thermal belts are
Warmer hillsides that are less likely to experience freezing conditions
Two objects A and B have the same mass but the specific heat of A is larger than B. If both objects absorb equal amounts of energy
B will become warmer than A
Which of the following statements is true:
a. If you travel from Dallas, Texas to St. Paul, Minnesota in January, you are more likely to experience greater temperature variations than if you make the same trip in July.
b. Annual temperature ranges tend to be much greater near the ocean than in the middle of the continent.
c. If two cities have the same mean annual temperature, then their temperatures throughout the year are quite similar.
d. All of the above
a. If you travel from Dallas, Texas to St. Paul, Minnesota in January, you are more likely to experience greater temperature variations than if you make the same trip in July.
The most abundant gas in the stratosphere is:
Nitrogen
Which of the following is considered a variable gas in the earth’s atmosphere:
Nitrogen, water vapor, oxygen, argon, or all of the above?
Water vapor
Which of the following would remain constant if you traveled up through the troposphere:
Air density, percentage oxygen concentration, air temperature, or air pressure?
Percentage oxygen concentrate
The instrument that measures pressure, temperature, and humidity in the vertical
Radiosonde
This process causes rising air to cool
Expansion
Causes the cold feeling you experience after leaving a swimming pool on a hot, dry summer day
Heat transport by latent heat
The temperature of a rising air parcel
Always cools due to expansion
The earth emits radiation with greatest intensity at
Infrared wavelengths
The major process that warms the lower atmosphere
Convection
The main reason for warm summers in middle latitudes is that
The sun is higher and the days are longer
Which of the following is one of the main causes of the seasons:
a. The changing distance between the earth and the sun
b. The length of the daylight hours
c. A periodic reversal in global scale air circulation patterns
d. Land/ocean temperature contrasts
b. The length of the daylight hours