Meteorological Processes Flashcards
What is relief rainfall?
Relief rainfall is when warm air is forced to climb over high areas. The air, while rising, cools and condenses into water and so it rains. Then, the air descends over the other side of the high areas(called the rain shadow) and is drier.
What is convectional rainfall?
The sun heats air up from the sea, and the air cools and condenses, which then leads it to rain inland.
What is frontal rainfall?
Warm air and cold air meet, but the warm air is forced to rise over the cold air. This creates a front, and any moisture in the front rains heavily along the front.
When talking about microclimates, what is aspect?
Aspect is the direction something is facing. For example if a hill was facing North then it would be colder than if facing South because it gets less sun.
When talking about microclimates, what is shelter?
Shelter is if something is covered by something else to stop heat or rain or wind getting to it. For example if one side of a cliff was facing inland, then it would get less wind because it is sheltered.
When talking about microclimates, what is building?
Buildings store and release heat at different times, and increase wind speed. For example cities are a lot hotter in the afternoon because of all the buildings releasing heat.
When talking about microclimates, what is surface?
Dark surfaces absorb a lot more light than light surfaces. This means that dark surfaces will be warmer.
