meteorology unit study guide

Question 1

gaseous envelope surrounding the earth

Answer 1

atmosphere

Question 2

earth’s crust including landforms, rocks, and soils

Answer 2

lithosphere

Question 3

the water on the surface of the earth in oceans, rivers, lakes, rain, and mist

Answer 3

hydrosphere

Question 4

living matter on earth, including all plant and animal life forms

Answer 4

biosphere

Question 5

earths first atmosphere is mostly of ______ and ______

Answer 5

helium, hydrogen

Question 6

why did earths first atmosphere change? earths _______ was not _____ _________ to hold the gases in
( through a collision of a _____ sized object) _______ and _______ were lost

Answer 6

gravity, strong enough, mars, hydrogen, helium

Question 7

earths second atmosphere is mostly of intense __________ which led to the release of _____ _____, _____ ______ (CO2), ____ _______ (CO), and _________ (N) along with other small gases
as a result _____ became to form due to the water vapor

Answer 7

volcanism, water vapor, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen, clouds

Question 8

why did earths second atmosphere change: evolution of __________ organisms __________ consumed CO2 and water which made ________ (O) this allowed animals to be possible

Answer 8

photosynthetic, cyanobacteria, oxygen

Question 9

earths current atmosphere is made of nitrogen __% oxygen __% other gases __% (other gases: argon, carbon dioxide, water vapor, helium, hydrogen, neon

Answer 9

78, 21, 1

Question 10

how many layers of the atmosphere are there

Answer 10

4

Question 11

bottom layer of the atmosphere where most ______ occurs; ______ also decreases with altitude (same answer as the first blank)

Answer 11

weather, troposphere

Question 12

____ and __ layer above the _________; also has the _____ layer which warms this layer; absorbs ________ rays and releases this energy in the form of heat

Answer 12

clear, dry, tropopause, ozone, ultraviolet

Question 13

temperature begins to ____ in this layer

Answer 13

drop, mesosphere

Question 14

what is this layer? atmosphere is thin but receives intense _____ ________; part of this layer is called the _________ where the suns radiation knocks off _______ in the gases and causes them to form ______

Answer 14

solar radiation, ionosphere, electrons, auroras

Question 15

name all the pauses in the atmosphere and how the temperature changes in each of them

Answer 15

tropopause temp stops decreasing, stratopause temp stops increasing, mesopause temp starts decreasing

Question 16

the ultimate source of heat for earth is

Answer 16

the sun

Question 17

heat energy enters and moves through the atmosphere in these 3 ways

Answer 17

conduction, convection, radiation

Question 18

radiation transfers energy through space in the form of _________ waves; all objects warmer than ______ ____ will emit some form of _________; doesnt require a _______ so energy can only travel through empty space

Answer 18

electromagnetic, absolute zero, radiation, medium

Question 19

water vapor changes directly into a solid

Answer 19

deposition

Question 20

solid directly to a gas

Answer 20

sublimation

Question 21

the amount of water vapor in the air

Answer 21

humidity

Question 22

the amount of water vapor compared to how much the air can hold

Answer 22

relative humidity

Question 23

moisture is measured using what

Answer 23

psychrometer

Question 24

___ _____ is the temp that air needs to be cooled to reach _________; this also causes ____________ to begin

Answer 24

dew point, saturation, condensation

Question 25

dew point is always higher/same or lower/same than the actual temp; a dew point that is higher does what

Answer 25

lower/same, holds more water

Question 26

if dew point and air temp are close it feels

Answer 26

humid

Question 27

if dew point and air temp are far apart it feels

Answer 27

dry

Question 28

2 things needed for condensation to happen: air must be cooled to at or below its ____ _______; it needs material to stick to called __________ ______

Answer 28

dew point, condensation nuclei

Question 29

dew and frost happen when air cools to ___ _____ by contact with a _____ surface

Answer 29

dew point, cold

Question 30

if it is above 0 degrees celsius ___ forms if it is above 0 degrees ______ forms

Answer 30

dew, frost

Question 31

forms when cold surface cools the ____ moist air above it, tiny droplets form around _________ ______; millions of water droplets _______ together to form a cloud

Answer 31

warm, condensation nuclei, collect

Question 32

for clouds to form the air has to be _________ and cloud __________ _____

Answer 32

saturated, condensation nuclei

Question 33

steps to cloud formation: warm air ____ taking the water vapor with it once it _____ below its dew point it condenses then needs something to stick to which is _________ _____ a bunch of water droplets then _______ together to make a cloud

Answer 33

rises, cools, condensation nuclei, collect

Question 34

clouds are named by what

Answer 34

height and shape

Question 35

wispy stringy clouds - sheet like flat clouds - puffy cotton ball clouds - low gray rainy clouds

Answer 35

cirrus, stratus, cumulus, nimbus

Question 36

prefixes telling the height for clouds low clouds below 2000 m are: middle leveled clouds 2000-6000 m are: high clouds above 6000 m are:

Answer 36

strato, alto, cirro

Question 37

type of weather that freezes with contact of the ground

Answer 37

freezing rain

Question 38

type of weather that freezes before contact with the ground

Answer 38

sleet

Question 39

type of weather that are bounced in a cloud until they fall into a huge ball of ice

Answer 39

hail

Question 40

what is the rain shadow effect near a mountain range the _________ side gets lots of rain but the _________ side gets not a lot of rain

Answer 40

windward, leeward

Question 41

measures how much light energy is being reflected when hitting a surface

Answer 41

albedo

Question 42

what is insolation

Answer 42

incoming solar radiation received by the earth

Question 43

intensity of insolation is determined by

Answer 43

time of day, the angle of the suns rays, time of year, cloud cover, type of surface

Question 44

when insolation reaches the surface it is radiated back into the atmosphere then CO2 and water vapor absorbs the radiation preventing it form going into space

Answer 44

greenhouse effect

Question 45

an areas long term pattern of weather controlled by latitude, elevation, nearby water, ocean currents, topography etc.

Answer 45

climate

Question 46

areas current weather or whats happening outside right now

Answer 46

weather

Question 47

air pressure is measured with a

Answer 47

barometer

Question 48

air pressure changes because of what

Answer 48

temp and humidity

Question 49

a line that joins points of equal air pressure lines closer together mean STEEPER pressure gradient

Answer 49

isobar

Question 50

areas with HIGH pressure have what kind of weather areas with LOW pressure have what kind of weather

Answer 50

happy weather for high pressure lousy weather for low pressure

Question 51

as elevation ________ the pressure ________ because there is less ___ around you

Answer 51

increases, decreases, air

Question 52

what is this? when earths rotation steers winds and surface ocean currents this force causes moving air and water on the surface of the earth to curve to the RIGHT in the northern hemisphere and to the LEFT in the southern hemisphere; hurricanes in the northern hemisphere rotate ______________ and __________ in the southern hemisphere

Answer 52

coriolis effect, counterclockwise, clockwise

Question 53

a band of fast moving wind moving from ____ to ____ at the top of the troposphere unaffected by friction

Answer 53

jet stream, east, west

Question 54

no wind zone near the equator caused by warm rising air

Answer 54

doldrums

Question 55

5-30 degree latitude blow from the northeast toward the equator, warm and steady winds

Answer 55

trade winds

Question 56

5-30 degree latitudes blow from the WEST toward the north causes weather in the U.S to move from the west to east

Answer 56

westerlies

Question 57

60-90 degree latitudes dry and cold winds that blow from high pressure POLES to low pressure POLES in the westerlies

Answer 57

polar easterlies