exam 2 review Flashcards
__________ cycling through the atmosphere is arguably the most significant environmental process in the physical geography of planet Earth.
Water
Condensing clouds control the planetary __________ and temperature
Albedo
Rain over the continents collects into rivers that erode and shape the landscape. (True/False)
True
Water enters and leaves the atmosphere fairly __________.
Rapidly
On average, a water molecule spends about 9 months in the air before returning to Earth as some form of precipitation. (True/False)
False: Nine DAYS.
Water enters the atmosphere as a gas (water vapor) by __________ from wet surfaces
Evaporation.
Over Hawai’i, __________ of all water vapor resides between sea level and the inversion at around 7000 feet altitude.
80%
Water vapor, like other atmospheric gases, is well mixed throughout the entire atmosphere. (True/ False)
False: water vapor quite different from other atmospheric gases, which are well mixed throughout the entire atmosphere. Even tens of miles above the surface, nitrogen, oxygen, and argon are still found in the same proportions as at sea level, while water is not.
Condensing water __________ an enormous amount of heat into the atmosphere.
Releases
When clouds grow deep enough, they produce __________, and water returns to the surface.
Precipitation
__________ refers to the phase change of water from liquid to gas.
Evaporation
Most atmospheric water vapor enters the air by evaporation from oceans (about 86%). (True/ False)
True
Plants boost the evaporation rate over land by withdrawing water from soil, conveying it to plant leaves, and allowing it to evaporate through openings called stomata (plural of stoma), a process called __________.
Transpiration
Humidity is a measure of the amount of __________ in the atmosphere.
Water vapor
The maximum amount of water vapor that the air can hold is called the __________.
Saturation Vapor Pressure (SVP)
If temperature increases, saturation vapor pressure increases, and relative humidity decreases. (True/ False)
True
The temperature at which relative humidity becomes __________ is called the dew point.
100%
Individual clouds may weigh hundreds of tons. Why don’t they fall out of the sky?
Updrafts hold up the individual cloud droplets.
If air tends to rise easily, the atmosphere is said to be __________.
Unstable, and deep clouds and precipitation are likely to form
The fundamental principal of cloud formation is fairly simple:
Warm air rises.
__________ refers to the actual temperature profile in the atmosphere.
Environmental Lapse Rate (ELR)
In Hawai’i, the atmosphere is generally stable because of the trade wind __________.
Inversion
When air cools to the __________, water vapor in the air condenses into liquid water.
Dew point
Condensing water requires a solid surface to condense onto. (True/ False)
True
Ever notice how deep blue the sky looks after a rainfall? That’s because rainfall scours cloud condensation nuclei out of the atmosphere and reduces __________ scattering
Mie
The Kilauea volcano puts out huge quantities of cloud condensation nuclei, flooding the downwind “airshed” of south Kona with small atmospheric particles, which we see as __________.
Vog
Raindrops form by collision and coalescence of cloud droplets, i.e. they strike each other and __________.
And merge into a larger drop
Cumulus means __________.
Puffy
San Francisco’s fog mostly forms in __________ cooling.
Advection.
Clouds (and attendant precipitation) most likely form when air __________.
Rises.
Wind pressure against a mountain barrier forces air to rise on the mountain’s windward side. As it rises, it warms to the dew point, clouds form, and rain may fall. (True/ False)
True
In the lee of the mountain (leeward side), the air, with its moisture removed, heats quickly as it flows downward producing hot, dry offshore winds and a low rain area called a/an __________.
Rainshadow.
The word convergence means, “to __________.”
Come together.
Convection refers to air rising because it is buoyant, meaning that it is warmer and denser than the air around it. (True/ False)
False
Warmer and LESS dense than the air around it.
Daytime heating during summer can produce deep convection clouds, complete with torrential rainfall, lightening and thunder over continental areas. (True/ False)
True.
Air masses are small blobs of air with relatively uniform temperature and moisture characteristics. (True/ False)
False.
Air masss are HUGE (maybe 1,000 miles across)
Warm oceans spawn __________ air masses.
Warm oceans spawn mT (marine Tropical) air masses,
cP air masses are:
Contiential polar (Cold dry).
If you know a cT air mass is headed your way, you can expect hot, dry conditions. (True/ False)
True.
If an mP air mass is coming in summer, expect hot, muggy weather with possible thunderstorms. (True/ False)
False.
When air masses collide, they readily mix, and form a new uniform air mass. (True/ False)
False.
If the cold air mass is pushing back the warm air mass (thus, winning), it forms a/an __________ front.
Cold Front.
Cold fronts almost always produce a cloud band. (True/ False)
True.
Tracking fronts is probably the Hawaiian weather person’s greatest forecasting tool, because the sequence of weather change is fairly predictable. (True/ False)
False, Mid latitude weather person’s
As it sweeps through the cold air mass, the warm front may spawn a continuously advancing band of intense thunderstorms called a squall line. (True/ False)
False, As it sweeps through the WARM air mass, the COLD front may spawn a continuously advancing band of intense thunderstorms called a squall line.
Warm fronts are generally much less intense than cold fronts. (True/ False)
True.
A/an __________ forms when a cold front overtakes a warm front and lifts the warm air mass completely off of the surface
Occluded front.