Exam 2 Flashcards
the most adiabatic lapse rate is ___ per 1000 meters and the dry adiabatic lapse rate is ___ per 1000 meters
6 degree C, 10 degree C
If city 1 and city 2 are at the same elevation and have the same air pressure at the surface, then what could cause the height of an air column above city 1 to be smaller than the height of the an air column above city 2?
warm air takes up more volume and is less dense
what type of atmosphere would you have if there was an inversion?
absolutely stable
an area of high pressure is called an ___ and an area of low pressure is called a ___
anticyclone, cyclone
if a weather ballon measures a cooling of 8 deg over 1 km the atmosphere is considered ?
conditionally unstable
if a weather ballon measures a cooling of 11 deg over 1 km the atmosphere is considered ?
absolutely unstable
if a weather ballon measures a cooling of 4 deg over 1 km the atmosphere is considered ?
absolutely stable
if air is cooler than its surroundings, it will (rise or sink) which is considered a (stable or unstable) atmosphere
sink, stable
when you launch a weather balloon it is measuring the ____ lapse rate
environment
a high cloud that has a puffy appearance is called
cirri-cumulus
a mesoscale system is typically around this size
a few km to 100 km
___ causes a pressure gradient to form
unequal heating
the scales of atmospheric motion in order from smallest scale to largest scale with an example of each
- microscale: eddy
- mesoscale: thunderstorms
- synoptic scale: high and low pressure areas
- planetary scale: long waves (global)
a typical storm system over the U.S. is a ___ scale
synoptic
rain is considered drizzle when it is less than ___ mm
0.5
Coriolis force acts to the ___ of air motion in the northern hemisphere
right
____ unstable atmospheres are rare a typically occur over deserts during the daytime
absolutely
could that have rain falling from them are called
nimbostratus
the polar jet stream is ___ than the subtropical jet stream
stronger
the ice-crystal prices is also called the?
Bergeron process
a conditionally unstable atmosphere, the environmental lapse rate is __ then dry adiabatic lapse rate
less
___ is the warm precipitation process and ____ is the cold precipitation process
collision/coalescence, ice crystal
what are the mechanisms for cloud development
convection, lifting along topography, convergence of air, and lifting along weather front
what are the cells in the three cell model
Hadley, ferrel, and polar
the ____ is the line of storms across the globe that are responsible for most hurricanes
intertropical convergence
___ and the ___ are the two jet streams in the northern hemisphere
polar, subtropical
___ is the abnormal warming of the equatorial pacific waters
El Nino
___ is the abnormal cooling of those same waters
La nina
___ occurs above a surface low and ___ occurs above a surface high
divergence, convergence
how does the wind blow start to blow in our atmosphere?
differences in pressure and temperature. ar will try to move from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure
- newtons law of motion: changes in the motion of the air or and depend on the focus acting on the wind
- pressure gradient force is directed from high pressure to low pressure causing the air to move
describe the process of air heating up by simply rising on one side of a mountain range and descending on the other side
a wind is so warm and dry it melts the snow and picks up moisture, the heat is due to compressional heating as the air gets to higher pressure at lower elevations down the slope
