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Geography101! > Geog. Exam 2 > Flashcards

Geog. Exam 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Atmospheric lifting

4 Principal Lifting Mechanisms

A

-Sometimes air masses need a boost to get started

Convergent
Convectional
Orographic
Frontal

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2
Q

1.) Convergent Lifting

A

-Air flowing toward an area of low pressure

Ex.) Hurricane or ITCZ

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3
Q

2.) Convectional

A

-Air masses over warm areas
-land/water difference
Ex.) land gets warmer = heats air above = air rises = condenses = rains
-Plowed field
*Low albedo areas

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4
Q

3.) Orographic

A
  • Mountains lift moving air

- Ex,) Rocky Mountains

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5
Q

Chinook Winds

Rain Shadow

A
  • Warm, downslope flows on the leeward side of mountains. Warms surrounding air
  • Dry area on the lee side of mountains
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6
Q

4.) Frontal

A
  • Front- the leading edge of an advancing air mass

- lines of conflict between air masses

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7
Q

Cold Fronts (Heavy Rain)

A
  • lift warm air and cause precipitation. Squall line
    • Cold air = more dense, so it can easily lift warm air.
    • Slope = very steep = air pushed up rapidly = severe thunderstorms
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8
Q

Warm Fronts (Light Rain/Gray Days)

A
  • Rise over cold air to lift

- Less dense, slowly pushes cold front and slowly rises over. Widespread rain

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9
Q

Greenhouse Gasses

A
  • Greenhouse gasses trap emitted radiation
    • Carbon Dioxide (CO2) = most common and largest effect
    • Methane (CH4) - most potent per molecule
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10
Q

Warming is Anthropogenic

A

Warming caused by humans

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11
Q

Carbon = stored in reservoirs

A
  1. ) Atmosphere
  2. ) Ocean
  3. ) Lithosphere
  4. ) Fossil Fuels
  5. ) Biosphere
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12
Q

Fossil fuels and Biosphere

A

leading reservoirs out of equilibrium

  • losing carbon to the air faster than they are gaining it.
  • not contributing to atmospheric carbon
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13
Q

Weather Consequences

A
  • higher average temps = higher extreme temps
  • more drought (even with more total rainfall)
  • More snow in some places
  • Stronger tropical storms and hurricanes
    • can’t pin on climate change, strong hurricane happen naturally.
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14
Q

Effluent Stream (Gaining) (Wet Climate)

A
  • Surface water interacts with ground water
  • Water from aquifer goes into stream.

Ex.) Saginaw River & Amazon River

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15
Q

Influent Stream (Losing) (Dry Climate)

A

-Dry are without much rain fall
-Loses water to aquifer
-Low water table
Ex.) Nile river or Lake Victoria

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16
Q

Hydrosphere

A
  • Earth = in “Goldilocks Zone”
    • Water is solid, liquid, and gas
  • Dry air = more dense than humid air
  • Warm air holds more water vapor than cold air
  • Hydrogen bonds keep water in liquid and solid form
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17
Q

Humidity

A

Amount of water vapor in the air

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18
Q

Relative Humidity

Dew point temp.

A
  • Ratio of water vapor in the air to the max amount possible at that temp.
  • temp at which dew or frost forms from condensation.
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19
Q

Daily RH Pattern

A

-Changes as air temperature changes

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20
Q

How is relative humidity and dew-point temp. related? Why does frost and dew appear in the morning and not some other time?

A
  • When RH reaches 100%, or coldest point of the day, it reaches its max to hold water vapor and begins to condense.
  • coldest in morning
  • RH 100% = dew point temp.
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21
Q

Water Properties

A

Latent Heat- Energy involved in a phase change with no change in temp.

  • Evaporation-cooling process
  • Condensation
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22
Q

Lapse Rate

A

Atmosphere is cooler as you go higher

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23
Q

Air Parcels

A
  • Bodies of air whose density depends on temp.
    • Warm = less dense
    • Cool = more dense
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24
Q

Parcel Movement

A
  • When air parcels rise, they cool by expansion
  • When they sink, they warm by pressure
  • Adiabatic processes
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25
Q

Adiabatic Rates

A

Dry rate - 10 C/1000m

Moist rate - 6 C/1000m

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26
Q

Atmospheric Stability

A

-Depends on relationship between the adiabatic rates and lapse rate.

  • Rising parcel is cooling (adiabatic rate)
  • As we go up, air is cooler (lapse rate).
    • Air keeps wanting to rise = unstable and rainy (cold air surrounds)
    • Air falls down = stable and no rain (Hot air surrounds)
27
Q

Mid-Latitude Cyclones

A

-Facilitate the passage of warm and cold fronts

28
Q

Air Masses (Created by Earth’s surface characteristics)

A

Moisture:

- Continental = Dry
 - Maritime = moist

Temperature:

  - Polar = pretty cold
  - Tropical = warm                Both in Michigan
29
Q

Continental Polar

A
  • Cold, dry, and stable = dense and hugs ground
  • Only in N Hemisphere - has many continents
  • Displaces warm air as it moves = no rain
30
Q

Maritime Tropical

A
  • Warm, moist, and unstable

- Explains lots of U.S. precipitation

31
Q

Maritime Polar

A
  • Cool, moist, unstable

- Over northern oceans (rainy Seattle)

32
Q

Lake-Effect Snow

A
  • Continental polar air gets moisture and energy from lakes.
  • cP air moves across unfrozen and relatively warm water, warm air picks up lots of moisture, air rises, cools by expansion, dew point, snows.
33
Q

Tornados

A

Some thunderstorms produce tornados (supercell thunderstorms)
-Rotating air aloft (updrafts)

34
Q

Wind sheer

Hook Echo

A
  • wind going in opposite directions close to each other
    • speed and direction
  • Precipitation
35
Q

Funnel cloud vs. tornado vs. waterspout

A

FC - tornado not touching ground
T - tornado touches ground
W - tornado over water

36
Q

Measuring Tornados

A

Fujita scale - based on destruction/wind speeds (damage)

Enhanced F scale - based more on wind-speed

*Tornado frequency increasing

37
Q

Tropical Cyclones

A
  • A huge low pressure system
    • Basis for hurricanes
Hurricane = in Atlantic and East pacific
Typhoon = in west pacific
Cyclone = in Indian ocean, Australia
38
Q

Warmer weather power hurricanes

A
  • Holds more water vapor
  • Warmer ocean = warm air above = evaporate lots of water
  • More latent heat = stronger
39
Q

Saffir-Simpson Scale

A

Hurricane Strength

40
Q

Hurricane Structure

A
  • Occupies entire troposphere - thunderstorm height
    • Eyewall = intense rain
    • Eye = low pressure
  • Strongest Wind
    • Right front quadrant, very very unstable
41
Q

Climate = effects every natural thing

Climatology

Climate Regions

A
  • Long-term average (decades) of weather conditions
  • Study of climate and it’s variability
  • Areas of similar long-term weather stats
42
Q

Global Temps

A

We know they are increasing

-We directly measure it

43
Q

Climate change matters now

A
  • Speed of it

- constant for awhile and then went up suddenly

44
Q

Earth’s Water

A
  • 71% of Earth’s area (mostly ocean)
  • Most by volume = in ocean (97%)
  • Most fresh water = frozen (99.36%)
45
Q

Sea Level:

Eustasy

A
  • Refers to sea level and sea level change throughout the world.
  • Due to melting ice and thermal expansion
46
Q

Water Issues

A

Quantity or Quality

Point & nonpoint-source pollution

47
Q

Aquifer

A

-Saturated sands and gravels beneath surface of land

48
Q

Aquiclude

A

-Impermeable rock or layer of sediment that is like a barrier for the flow of groundwater.

49
Q

Water Table

A
  • Boundary between saturated ground and unsaturated ground. Rocks soils are full of water below table.
  • Can fluctuate as water seeps through the surface or from excessive use of groundwater.
50
Q

GW Quality

A
  • Recharge Areas

- Seawater intrusion due to rising sea levels

51
Q

GW Quantity

A
  • Drawdown - take more water out then water put in
  • Collapsing Aquifers
    • Subsidence - ground sinks/floor sinks
52
Q

Exotic Stream

A
  • stream which loses discharge with distance downstream

- Arkansas River - effluent to influent cause of humans

53
Q

Fossil Water

A

-Ancient groundwater that is effectively a non-renewable resource.

54
Q

Water Resources in future

A
  • more water at high latitudes
  • less water at low latitudes
  • Currently major migration to lower latitudes, particularly deserts
55
Q

Xeriscaping

A

landscaping in water-conserving ways

56
Q

Greywater systems

A

-systems that reuse unsoiled water for other purposes

57
Q

Desalination

A

Unsalted ocean water

58
Q

Potential for air to “hold” water vapor varies with temp

A

warm air = more water vapor

cold air = less water vapor

59
Q

Relationship between RH and dew-point temp.

A

RH = 100%, or coldest point of day, it reaches the max amount of water vapor it can hold and begins to condense. Morning = coldest time of day

60
Q

Precisely describe how the sling psychrometer is able to determine RH from 2 diff thermometers

A
  • Dry bulb takes air temp and wet bulb calculates the evaporation rate. More evaporation = cooler the wet bulb will be, which means a bigger difference between the wet and dry bulbs.
  • Dry environment (desert): lot of evaporation off of wet bulb, so it will cool down a lot and show a large difference from the dry bulb.
  • Wet environment (in a cloud): no evaporation, so there is no cooling of the wet bulb thermometer and so the temps are the same.
  • Dryer the environment = more evap. from wet bulb and the bigger the diff. in temp between the two thermometers
61
Q

How does intensity of rain differ depending on a cold or warm front? Why?

A

Cold- heavy rain, colder air forces warm air to rapidly rise, where it cools and condenses.
Warm-steady rain, gradually rises over cold air to lift.

Why? difference in air density

62
Q

Climate regions = never exact

A
  • transition zones

- temp. and rain level change

63
Q

Evaporation

Transpiration

Evapotranspiration

A
  • water turns into vapor from a body of water or surface
  • Water turned into vapor from plants
  • Water evaporates from soil, plants, and surfaces to atmosphere.
64
Q

Capillary Water

A

Water in the soil that is held in small pores that can hold water against gravity. It is held by cohesion (water molecules stays close together via hydrogen bonds) and adhesion (water molecules stick to other substances)

-silty sand = can hold more water

Geography101! (4 decks)

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