January 25th lecture Flashcards
What is the Troposphere?
It is the lowest layer of atmosphere, where all weather occurs
as you ascend in altitude within the troposhpere, What happens to the temperature?
Temperature decreases as you go up.
How far does the troposphere expand?
from surface to 12km up
How does water vapor behave in the atmosphere?
kinda like mixing sugar in water, it dissolves but there is a limit to how saturated the medium can be, with that amount increasing with temperature
What is saturation vapour pressure?
It is the maximum amount of water that can be held as vapor in air
What happens as water evaporates? Where does it go?
As water evaporates, water molecules which are lighter than air are added to the atmopshere.
What is more dense? moist air or dry air?
Dry air is more dense as water vapor is lighter and thus less dense than air.
What is a equilibrium level?
The height at which air rises to and stops
What happens when the water vapor is removed from moist air?
It becomes more dense and then sinks to a new equilibrium level.
As air rises what happens to its pressure? and in turn what effect does this have on its temperature?
As air rises the pressure decreases, causing the air to expand and cool
What is Abiabatic expansion?
When air rises, loses pressure, spreads and cools in the upper atmosphere
What happens when the saturation vapor pressure becomes less than the actual vapor pressure
The air can no longer hold the water vapor it presently contains and liquid vapor forms, leading to cloud formation and rain
What happens when water vapor condense to form liquid water?
It releases heat to the surrounding air
What is the result of water vapor forming liquid water generating heat?
It warms the nearby air, reducing its density, allowing it to rise further where more adiabatic cooling occurs leading to condensation. Often in the form of thunder storms
Why does atmospheric pressure decrease with altitude?
The higher up you go the less air there is above you, so there is less weight pushing upon you.
The thicker and more dense an air column the….
Higher the pressure within
A column of cool dense air is associated with what?
High pressure at the surface and sinking
A column of warm, less dense air is associated with what?
Low pressure at the surface and rising
How does solar heating affect air flow in the atmosphere ?
Solar heating rises the temperature at the equator, thus leading to a pressure gradient making the air move towards the cooler poles
As air rises due to heat, and it becoming less dense, what happens to the surface?
The surface winds come in and flow towards the equator
So at the surface there is WHAT at the equator?
Convergence
So at the surface there is WHAT at the poles?
Divergence
What direction is the earths spin?
To the East.
In the northern hemisphere, an object will follow a path to the ____ of its intended path
right
In the southern hemisphere, an object will follow a path to the ____ of its intended path
left
What is the deflection due to the Coriolis effect actually?
The directions of the deflection
are with respect to viewer’s perspective looking
in the direction which the object is travelling
