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EESA09H3 Wind > Lecture 2: The Basics of Atmosphere, Clouds, Atmospheric Pressure, Forces Affecting Wind, What is Wind?, Air Masses > Flashcards

Lecture 2: The Basics of Atmosphere, Clouds, Atmospheric Pressure, Forces Affecting Wind, What is Wind?, Air Masses Flashcards

1
Q

The Basics of the Atmosphere

What does gas phase include?

A
  • Gas : (N2, O2, CO2,)
  • Liquids: H20 visible and H20 droplets/ice crystals
  • Solid: PM: dust, dirt, soot, smoke
  • Aerosols: PM suspended in gas
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2
Q

The Basics of the Atmosphere

What is PM and how does its thickness affect winds?

A

PM stands for particle matter comes in 2 forms:
1. PM2.5: Combustion particles, organic compounds
2. PM10: Mold, dust, pollen

Thickness:
* Horizontal speeds&raquo_space;> vertical speeds because of shallowness of atmosphere
* Most mase in AMSL

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3
Q

The Basics of the Atmosphere

What is the order of different gas spheres that make up the worlds atmosphere? From Highest - Lowest (5 total)

A
  1. Exosphere
  2. Thermosphere
  3. Mesophere
  4. Stratosphere
  5. Troposhere

E. T. M. S. T. (Eat Tiny Muffins Secretly Tom!)

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4
Q

The Basics of the Atmosphere

What are some information about the Exosphere?

A
  • Upper most edge of earths atmosphere
  • Fast moving particles do not return to earth
  • Small portion of the atmosphere leaks into space
  • Molecular collisions rare b/c of thin air
  • Geocorona - UV radiation glow by hydrogen
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5
Q

The Basics of the Atmosphere

What are some information on the Thermosphere?

A
  • Temperature increases with height
  • Thin air, low density
  • Solar activity strongly influences temperature because of intense absorption of the solar radation from oxygen and nitrogen
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6
Q

The Basics of the Atmosphere

What are some information on the Mesophere?

A
  • Temperature decreases with height
  • Dry, vaporized meteors
  • PMC (Polar Mesophere Clouds)
  • TLE (Transient Luminous Events) - odd electrical discharge similar to lightning
    1. SPRITES: Reddish flames with downward tenticles. Resulting from intense thunderstorm electrification
    2. ELVES: Concentration of expanding rings. Formned by electron and nitrogen collisions, very low frequency due to eletromagnetic pulse sources
    3. BLUE JETS: Flashes upward from clouds, essentionally upper atmospheric lightning
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7
Q

The Basics of the Atmosphere

What are some information on the Stratosphere?

A
  • Temperature increases with height
  • Dry
  • Nacreous Clouds - PSC: (Polar Stratosphere Clouds), lower stratosphere near the poles in winter
  • Ozone (O3): Absorbs UV radiation which heats stratosphere and protects life on earth
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8
Q

The Basics of the Atmosphere

What are some information on the Troposphere?

A
  • Temperature decreases with height moist, bottom air warmest, rising cooling
  • Most atmospheric mass in troposphere
  • Air pressure and density decrease with height
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9
Q

Clouds

What are clouds?

A
  • A visible aggregate of minut droplets of water or particles of ice, or a mixture of both suspended in air
  • Large concentrations of liquid water droplets or ice crystals that form by **condensation ** of water vapour in saturated air and then remain suspended in the air, clear of the surface
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10
Q

Clouds

What are 3 conditions for cloud formation?

A
  1. Water vapour condenses to form clouds
  2. Clouds form when the invisible water vapour in air condenses to form visible water vapour in clouds
  3. The parcel in air must be saturated (unable to hold all the water it contains in a vapour form) to start to condense into a liquid or solid form
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11
Q

Clouds

What are the 2 conditions for air saturation?

A
  1. Evaporation: Increasing the water content in the air to a point where the air cannot hold more water
  2. Cooling air until it reaches its dew point: The temperature at which condensation occurs and the air parcel is unable to hold more water

Eequierments for the air parcel to not be able to hold anymore air

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12
Q

Clouds

What are cloud droplets?

A

Super cooled due to their small size, can remain in liquid form, cloud droplets and crystals can range in size < 1- 50 PM

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13
Q

Clouds

What are CNN? (Cloud Condensation Nuclei)

A
  • Cloud seeds
  • Size 0.2 microns
  • Hydroscopic properties: Means attracting and holding water molecules
  • Many different types of atmopheric particulates:\
    1. Dust, clay, soot,
    2. Black carbon (forest fires)
    3. Sea salt (ocean wave spray)
    4. Sulphates (volcanic activity)
    5. Phytoplankton (sulphate aerosols)
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14
Q

Clouds

What are the 4 mechanisims of cloud formation?

A

1.Air Surface Warming: Air warms near surface from solar energy, warm air rises (due to being less dense then surronding air, experinces lifting condensation level; as pressure and temperature drop, cause water vapour to condense
2.Weather Fronts: These are large air masses that collide at Earths surface, 2 types:
* Warm Air Front: Warm air mass slides over cold air mass
* Cold Air Front: Heavy and cold air mass pushes warm air mass up
Reason why it is because cold air is more dense than warm air, when a warm air mass meets a cold air mass, cold air is below warm air, once air has risen and cools, forms clouds.
3. Mountain Range: Wind blows, air rises then cools, clouds form
4. Pressure: Air is forced upwards from areas of low air pressure, winds meet air at center of low pressure system, so air is forced to go up

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15
Q

The Concept of Atmospheric Pressure

What is the concept of atmospheric pressure?

A
  • The weight of the atmosphere at any location, that is generated by downward force of gravity
  • Remember, pressure decreases with increasing height because there is less air above
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16
Q

The Concept of Atmospheric Pressure

What can we conclude from the properties of atmopheric pressure on winds?

A
  • Changes in atmospheric pressure allow us to forecast wind
  • High and low pressure systems can be located by wind direction, for example Northern Hemisphere: High pressure CCW compared to Low pressure CW
17
Q

The Concept of Atmospheric Pressure

What are some differences between High pressure and Low pressure air?

A

High Pressure:
* Stable conditions and sinking air so cloudless skies.
* Air is pushed outwards from the center of high pressure
* Air from the upper atmosphere sinks to replace air movinge
* Dries out

Low Pressure:
* Unstable conditions and rising air that produces clouds and precipitation
* Air is pulled into the center of low pressure
* Water vapour cools and condenses
* Moist from clouds and precipitation

18
Q

The Concept of Atmospheric Pressure

What are some differences between Horizontal and Veritical pressure

A

Horizontal Pressure:
* Associated with changes in horizontal flow
* Horizontal gradient is dominant in upper atmosphere

Vertical Pressure:
* Associated with changes in vertical flow
* Vertical pressure gradient average are often greater than horizontal pressure as, pressure always decreases with height

19
Q

Forces Affecting Wind

What are the 5 forces that affect wind?

A
  1. Pressure Gradient Force
  2. Graviational Force
  3. Coriolic Force
  4. Frictional Force
  5. Centrifugal Force

P. G. C. F. C. (Pool. Gates. Can. Force. Comfort)

20
Q

Forces Affecting Wind

What are some information on the Coriolic Force?

A
  • An apparent force associated witht he rotation of the earth
  • Northern Hemisphere causes deflection to the right of motion, and in the Southern Hemisphere to the left
  • CF affects the direction and object will move but across the Earth’s surface but has no affect on its speed
  • CF is strongest for fast moving objects and zero for stationary objects
  • CF is zero at equator but at maximum at the poles
  • CF is related to distance at equator
  • CF acts like right angle to the wind
21
Q

Forces Affecting Wind

What are some information on the Pressure Gradient Force?

A
  • The force that accelerates air horizontally across the Earth’s surface is PGF
  • The PGF initates atmospheric mass or wind movements from areas of higher to areas of low pressure
  • Produced by the pressure gradient, and its magnitude is porportional to the steepness of the gradient
  • Has both horizontal and vertical components, but air temds to rise bu balanced by graivty to veritical ignored
  • Changes in pressure are measured across distance
  • Abscence from other forces PGF drives winds H - L pressure
22
Q

Forces Affecting Wind

What are some information on Frictional Force?

A
  • Faster moving air molecules collide with slower moving air molecules creating turbulence
  • Always acts in direction opposite to the motion of air
  • Reduces wind speed Friction + Coriolic
23
Q

Forces Affecting Wind

What are some information on Centrifugal Force?

A
  • It is apparent force that includes the effects of inertia for winds moving along a curved path
  • Physical tendency to remain unchaged
  • Directionality points outward from the center of the curve
  • Opposite of centrifugal force
24
Q

Forces Affecting Wind

What are the 3 important summary points when it comes to forces affecting wind?

A
  1. PGF is always directed from higher pressure from lower pressure
  2. Closely spaces isobars: Steep PG and strong PGF indicate high winds
  3. When wind starts to blow the Coriolic force causes it to bend to the right of its intended path in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left of its intended path in the Southern Hemisphere
25
Q

What is Wind?

What is Wind?

A
  • It is the invisible movement of air due to an uneven distribution of air pressure in the atmosphere
  • Differences in air pressure vary from vertical or horizontal, and from high and low air pressure
26
Q

What is Wind?

What are the 3 main types of wind?

A
  1. Geotrophic Wind
  2. Gradient Wind
  3. Surface Wind
27
Q

What is Wind?

What are some information on Geotrophic Wind (Upper Level Wind)?

A
  • Wind balanced by the Coriolic and PGF
  • Process:
    1. Air parcel intially at rest moves from H to L pressure from PGF
    2. (As air mass moves) It is deflected by the Coriolic Force
    3. (As wind gains speed) The deflection increases until CF = PGF this causes wind to flow parallel to isobars
    (That is when wind is considered Geotrophic
28
Q

What is Wind?

What are some information on Gradient Winds?

A
  • Non-geostrophic winds that blow parrallel to isobars through centrifugal force
29
Q

What is Wind?

What are some information on Surface Winds

A
  • Close to Earths surface with velocity reduced due to intensity of friction
30
Q

Air Masses

What is the definition of Air Masses?

A

An air mass is a large body of air whose temperature and moisture properties are fairly uniform in any horizontal direction at any given altitude

31
Q

Air Masses

What are the source regions of Air Masses?

A

Area where an air mass originates from:
* Oceans, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Northern Mexico

32
Q

Air Masses

What are the original classification of wind types?

A
  • P - Polar Latitudes
  • T - Tropical Latitudes
  • C - Land (Continents)
  • M - Water (Moisture), Maritime
33
Q

Air Masses

What are the 6 mass air types?

A
  • DP, DM, DT, MP, MM, MT
  • First Letter:D (Dry), M (Moist)
  • Second Letter:P (Polar), M (Moderate), T (Tropical)

EESA09H3 Wind (1 decks)

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