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Meteorology > Exam 3 (Lessons 7-9) > Flashcards

Exam 3 (Lessons 7-9) Flashcards

1
Q

How are clouds classified?

A

1) General appearance (texture) as observed from ground
2) Altitude of cloud base
3) Temperature
4) Composition

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2
Q

Characteristics of high clouds

A

Bases above 16,000ft
Average temperature below -25 degrees Celsius
Composed of ice crystals, have fibrous appearance
Include the prefix cirro

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3
Q

What are the 3 types of high clouds?

A

Cirrus (Ci) clouds
Cirrostratus (Cs) clouds
Cirrocumulus (Cc) Clouds

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4
Q

Characteristics of middle clouds

A

Bases between 6,600 and 16,000ft
Average temperature between 0 and -25 degrees Celsius
Composed of supercooled water droplets or a mixture of droplets and ice crystals
Include the prefix alto

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5
Q

What are the 2 types of middle clouds?

A

Altostratus (As) clouds

Altocumulus (Ac) clouds

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6
Q

Characteristics of low clouds

A

Bases from Earth’s surface (fog) to 6,600ft
Average temperature above -5 degrees Celsius
Composed of water droplets

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7
Q

What are the 3 types of low clouds?

A

Stratocumulus (Sc) clouds
Stratus (St) clouds
Nimbostratus (Ns) clouds

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8
Q

What clouds have vertical development?

A

Cumulus clouds

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9
Q

Where do clouds that have vertical development form?

A

In updrafts of convection currents

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10
Q

When does fog form?

A

When the air is saturated by radiational cooling, advective cooling, addition of water vapor, or expansional cooling

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11
Q

What are the different types of fog?

A

Radiation Fog
Advection Fog
Upslope Fog

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12
Q

What are the two basic methods for cloud particle growth?

A

Collision-Coalescence (warm clouds)

Combination of Bergeron-Findeisen process and collision-coalescence (cold clouds)

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13
Q

What is Collision-Coalescence process?

A

Droplets grow by colliding and merging (coalescing); only coalesce if droplets are of significantly different size
Eventually droplet grow large enough and terminal velocity overcomes updraft and precipitation occurs

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14
Q

What are the forces that act on the wind?

A

Air Pressure Gradient
Centripetal Force
Coriolis Effect
Friction Gravity

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15
Q

When does an air pressure gradient exist?

A

Whenever air pressure varies from place to place

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16
Q

What is a horizontal pressure gradient?

A

When air pressure varies along a surface of constant altitude

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17
Q

What is a vertical pressure gradient?

A

Air pressure changes above Earth’s surface

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18
Q

How does air pressure gradient cause water or air to move?

A

It causes it to move from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure

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19
Q

What is the Coriolis Effect?

A

Earth’s rotation causes fluids to be deflected away from a straight path; strongest at the poles and decreases moving away from the poles and is 0 at the equator

20
Q

The Coriolis Effect causes fluids to deflect ____ in the Northern hemisphere and ____ in the souther hemisphere

A

Right… Left

21
Q

How does the Second Law of Thermodynamics relate to pressure gradient?

A

When a horizontal pressure gradient develops, air flows in a direction to eliminate the pressure gradient (Second Law of Thermodynamics)

22
Q

What are the 4 interaction of forces that effect wind?

A

Hydrostatic Equilibrium
Geostrophic Wind
Gradient Wind
Surface and Horizontal Winds

23
Q

What is hydrostatic equilibrium?

A

Balance between vertical air pressure gradient and gravity

24
Q

What is geostrophic wind and what causes it?

A

Un-accelerated, horizontal movement of air that follows a straight path at altitudes above the atmospheric boundary layer
Caused by a balance between the horizontal air pressure gradient force and Coriolis Effect

25
Q

What is gradient wind?

A

Large-scale, horizontal, frictionless wind that blows parallel to the isobars; similar to geostrophic winds but has a curved path

26
Q

How does air in anticyclones move?

A

Clockwise and parallel to isobars

27
Q

How does air in cyclones move?

A

Counterclockwise and parallel to isobars

28
Q

How does air move in an anticyclone when affected by friction and the Coriolis Effect?

A

Surface winds blow clockwise and outward; opposite wind directions in the southern hemisphere

29
Q

How does air move in a cyclone when affected by friction and the Coriolis Effect?

A

Surface winds blow counterclockwise and inward;

opposite wind directions in the southern hemisphere

30
Q

Why do cyclones favor cloud development over anticyclones?

A

In cyclones rising air cools due to expansional cooling causing relative humidity to rise and as it nears 100% saturation will be reached and condensation will occur causing cloud formation
In anticyclones sinking air warms due to compressional warming causing relative humidity to decrease resulting in the suppression of cloud formation

31
Q

What are the 4 levels of atmospheric circulation?

A

Planetary-Scale Systems
Synoptic-Scale Systems
Mesoscale-Scale Systems
Microscale Systems

32
Q

What are planetary-scale systems?

A

large-scale wind belts encircling the planet

33
Q

What are synoptic-scale systems?

A

continental or oceanic in scale

34
Q

What are mesoscale-scale systems?

A

circulation systems that influence weather in part of a large city or county

35
Q

What are microscale systems

A

weather systems covering a very small area such as several blocks

36
Q

What areas of the globe have persistent highs and what type of weather is found there?

A

At the poles and 30 degree N and S latitude; weather is generally fair and desert climates often form

37
Q

What areas of the globe have persistent lows and what type of weather is found here?

A

Around the equator and 60 degree N and S latitude; rainy climates usually occupy these areas

38
Q

What are the 4 semi-permanent pressure systems?

A

Subtropical anticyclones
Intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ)
Subpolar lows
Polar highs

39
Q

How does the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) shift?

A

It follows the sun; Furthest North in July and furthest South in January

40
Q

In flowing into a trough westerlies ____ and induces speed ____ aloft.

A

Slow… Convergence

41
Q

When flowing into a ridge westerlies ____ and induces speed ____ aloft.

A

Accelerate… Divergence

42
Q

El Nino is a ____ phase and La Nina is a ____ phase.

A

Warm… Cold

43
Q

What happens during an El Nino?

A

Air pressure falls over Eastern tropical Pacific and rises over Western Pacific
Pressure gradient and trade winds weaken
SST drops in Western tropical Pacific and rises in Eastern tropical Pacific

44
Q

What happens during a La NIna

A

Trade winds are stronger in the tropical Pacific

SST is lower in Central and Eastern tropical Pacific

45
Q

What winds does the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) impact?

A

Governs the strength of westerly winds, mid-latitude jet stream, and North Atlantic storm tracks

Meteorology (3 decks)

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