Exam One Ch. 1-7 Flashcards
Aerosols
Small suspend particles in the air
Argon
An inert gas found in the atmosphere at a nearly constant proportion of about 0.9%.
Aurora Austrails
Illumination of the sky found in the high Northern or Southern latitudes, which is produced as charged particles arriving from the Sun react with the upper atmosphere.
Carbon Dioxide
An important variable gas in the atmosphere, made up of one atom of carbon found to two atoms of oxygen. An important greenhouse gas.
Celsius Scale
Temperature scale that designates 0 degrees as the freezing point and 100° as the sea level boiling point of water.
Climate
Statistical properties of the atmosphere, including measures of average conditions, variability, Etc.
Condensation Nuclei
All Airborne particles that enhance condensation. without condensation nuclei, condensation would occur only at very high relative humidity, while condensation nuclei allow condensation to occur at or slightly below 100% relative humidity.
Density
Mass of a substance per unit volume, expressed as kilograms per cubic meter in the International System of Units.
Dew Point temp
Also called dew point. the temperature at which saturation will occur, given sufficient Cooling.
Fahrenheit Scale
Temperature scale that assigns values 32 degrees to the freezing point of water and 212 degrees to the sea level boiling point of water.
Front
A transition zone between two dissimilar air masses (that is air masses with different temperature, moisture, or density).
Hetero-sphere
High atmosphere where gases are not well mixed, but rather are stratified according to molecular weight. vertical motions are too weak to overcome gravitational settling, so have your gases are found beneath lighter gases.
Homo-sphere
The lowest 80 km of the atmosphere in which the relative abundance of the permanent gases is constant.
Hydro-logic Cycle
Perennial movement of water and it’s three phases between the atmosphere, Earth’s surface, and groundwater.
Inversion
Condition in which temperature increases with increasing altitude.
Ionosphere
Region and the upper atmosphere from about 8 to 500 km where charged particles are relatively abundant.
Ions
electrically charged atom or group of atoms.
Isobar
A line on a weather map connecting points of equal pressure. moving along an isobar, there is no change in pressure. the pressure gradient Force acts perpendicular to isobars.
Kelvin Scale
An absolute temperature scale, we’re of value of 0 k implies an absence of thermal energy. the Kelvin scale assigns 100 units between the melting and sea-level boiling points of water.
Kilopascal (kPa)
A unit of pressure equal to 1000 Pascal’s or 0.1 millibars.
Mesosphere
Region of the atmosphere from about 50 km to 80 km, characterized by decreasing temperature with increasing altitude.
Meteorology
Science that studies the atmosphere.
Methane
An important greenhouse gas comprised of one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms, with present-day concentration of about 1.8 parts per million.
Millibar (mb)
A unit of atmospheric pressure, abbreviated as mb. sea level pressure is about 1013 mb.
National Weather Service
The official meteorological Agency for the United States.
Nitrogen
An inert gas compromising about 78% of the atmosphere.
Outgassing
The emission of gases that accompanies volcanic eruptions.
Oxygen
A reactive gas essential for Life compromising about 21% of the atmosphere. has limited role in atmospheric processes.
Ozone
Molecules consisting of three oxygen atoms, most abundant in the middle and upper stratosphere.
Ozone Layer
The portion of the stratosphere where ozone is relatively abundant, reaching a few parts per million.
Permanent gases
Those gases who is relative abundance is constant within the homosphere.
Photo-dissociation
Splitting of molecules in two atoms or sub-molecules by radiation. For example, in the thermosphere, ultraviolet radiation dissociates molecular oxygen into Atomic oxygen.
Photosynthesis
The growth process of green plants, where buy water and carbon dioxide are converted into carbohydrates, releasing oxygen.
Pressure
Force exerted per unit area. in most Sciences the standard unit of measurement is the Pascal, equal to 1 N/m squared. in Daily meteorological applications, however, the millibar is frequently used in the United States and the kilopascal in Canada.
Relative Humidity
The measure of the amount of water vapor in the air as a fraction of saturation, often expressed as a percentage. because the saturation point is temperature dependent, relative humidity depends on both the moisture content and the temperature of the air.
Respiration
Biological process that combines oxygen with carbohydrates to produce energy, releasing water vapor and carbon dioxide as by-products.
Scientific Method
A framework used to make scientific discoveries about the physical world.
Scientific Theory
Scientific hypothesis that have withstood repeated tests and have not been contradicted and are generally accepted as scientific fact.
Standard Atmosphere
The mean structure of the atmosphere with regard to temperature and pressure.
Station Model
a plotting on weather maps for individual locations depicting current temperature, dew point, pressure, and other meteorological information.
Stratospause
Upper limits of the stratosphere; the transition between the stratosphere and mesosphere.
Stratosphere
A layer of atmosphere between about 16 and 50 km, characterize buy generally increasing temperature with increasing altitude.
Thermosphere
Outermost reaches of the atmosphere, beginning at about 80km, characterized by increasing temperature with increasing altitude and by extremely low density.
