Midterm 1 Study Guide Flashcards

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1
Q

March of the seasons, what happens on these significant days and where?

A

June solstice (June 21st) - sun over tropic of cancer

September equinox (Sept. 21st) - over the equator (sun 12 hours a day)

December solstice (Dec. 21st) - sun over tropic of capricorn

March equinox (March 21st) - sun over equinox

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2
Q

Electromagnetic spectrum, what can we see, where is UV, where is infrared? What color is UV?

A

-Visible light
-UV (too short to see) - unknown colors
-Infrared (too long to see) - unknown colors

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3
Q

Coriolis effect, what are the effects? Where?

A

Northern hemisphere - turns to its right

Southern hemisphere - turns to its left

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4
Q

Density of atmosphere, where is there more or less and what does that mean?

A

More dense in the ground because of gravity, less dense in the atmosphere

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5
Q

Climate vs weather

A

Climate - long term, aggregate of daily weather conditions

Weather - short-term atmospheric conditions for a specific time at a specific region

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6
Q

Controls on climate

A

Latitude, altitude, atmospheric general circulation, oceanic circulation, coriolis effect

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7
Q

Radiation

A

sun radiates shortwave wavelength

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8
Q

Absorption

A

energy assimilated into an object

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9
Q

Reflection

A

repels energy that strikes it
reflected energy that is deflected = same wavelength

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10
Q

Albedo

A

overall reflectivity of an object
high albedo = snow low albedo = ocean

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11
Q

Scattering

A

deflection of light waves by gas/particles like dust, happens before it hits surface

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12
Q

Transmission

A

light waves passing through a medium (car window glass example)

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13
Q

Greenhouse effect

A

warming caused by differential transmission of shortwave and longwave radiation

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14
Q

Conduction

A

transfer of heat/energy

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15
Q

Convection

A

transfer of energy by vertical circulation of fluid or gas

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16
Q

adiabatic cooling

A

warm air rises, expands, molecular collisions decrease, temps go down, key to cloud formation

17
Q

adiabatic warming

A

cold air sinks, temps go up, hinders cloud development

18
Q

Land water contrast

A

Land heats up 5x faster (low specific heat)
There is transmission in water and high evaporation, high mobility, higher specific heat

19
Q

general atmospheric circulation

A

warm air rises > ITCZ > Hadley cells > STH > trade winds, westerlies

20
Q

Wind direction, global and regional patterns

A

pressure gradient - wind going from high to low pressure

Midlatitudes - west to east
Tropics - east to west

21
Q

High and low pressure, how can you tell? Explain

A

High Pressure - diverging air
Low pressure - converging

22
Q

7 components of general circulation

A
  • ITCZ
  • Trade wings
  • STH
  • Westerlies
23
Q

STH, why is it high?

A

STH = descending air from hadley cells

24
Q

Sea Breeze

A

Sea Breeze - daytime onshore winds
Land Breeze - nighttime offshore winds

25
Q

El Nino where?

A

-Abnormally warm waters appear along coast of South America - more storms and rain

26
Q

Properties of water

A

-Liquidity
-ice expansion
-surface tension
-universal solvent
-high specific heat

27
Q

Latent Heat

A

energy used to break or form bonds (like it causes water to evaporate

28
Q

Exchange of latent heat

A

-Evaporation (liquid to vapor) (cooling)
-Freezing (liquid to ice)
-Condensation (vapor to liquid water) (heating)

29
Q

Relative Humidity

A

Ratio of actual water vapor to air’s water vapor capacity (describes how close the air is to saturation)

30
Q

Dew Point Temperature

A

Temp air must cool to reach saturation

31
Q

LCL (Lifting Condensation Level)

A

rising air reaches dew point, saturates, condenses = forming clouds

32
Q

Rain Shadow

A

leeward side, dry side of the mountain

33
Q

Fronts and zones of interaction

A

Front - boundary zone between cold and warm fronts

Cold Front - cold air wedges up
Warm Front - gentle slop of warm air rises above cool air

34
Q

Midlatitude Cyclones

A

Large, migratory low pressure cells, between 30 and 70 latitude, migrates from west to east (westerlies)

35
Q

Midlatitude Anticyclone

A

NO FRONTS FOR HIGH PRESSURE
No clouds

36
Q

Tropical Cyclone

A

smaller than midlatitude cyclones
formed over warm water poleward of itcz

37
Q

Thunderstorms (Where do thunderstorms mostly occur and why?)

A

Occurs mostly in Florida due to western intensification (warm waters and warm winds from trade winds)

Mostly on the low latitudes or tropics.

38
Q
A